The Champions of Losing
by SandyWhiteClaws
Summary: Set after the coup in Iran... as if a coup wasn't life changing enough, the McCords are about to become the Champions of Losing.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: First and foremost, thank you so much for reading! This is my first piece of writing (for fun) in a very long time and I hope I do it justice! I plan on this being a multi-chapter piece and will update as often as I can! I *think* the timelines may be a little off and if they are I'm so incredibly sorry! **

**The Champions of Losing**

Ten days. It had been ten days since the coup in Iran, ten days since her life flashed before her eyes, ten days since she returned to American soil – but not to life like it was. She wanted life as it was eleven days ago.

She wanted the pressure in her chest to finally subside. She wanted her heart to slow down just a beat or two. She wanted the exhaustion she felt throughout every part of her body to be pacified. She wanted normalcy.

She wanted the memories she had eleven days ago. She wanted a son to have his father – like he did eleven days ago, a woman to have her husband. Selfishly, she wanted the part of herself she lost in Iran, back too.

There were a lot of things she still wanted, a lot of unwanted things she wanted to part with, and a lot of normal things that she wanted to feel again – but her hand hitting the snooze button was not one of them.

It's not like she had slept much, if she got a few hours a night it seemed like she was lucky. Grappling with the consequences and feelings after the coup weren't easy… or maybe she wasn't as strong as she thought.

Henry had tried to convince her many times to take a day off. He tried to schedule her follow up appointment with her doctor. He tried to keep her relaxed at home. He tried to make her communicate about what she had seen and what she was feeling. He tried.

"Up already?" He sleepily questioned.

"Yea I guess you are." She responded barely moving her position, her back firmly pressed against the headboard, her eyes forward.

"Have you been up for a while?" Henry asked as if he didn't know she hadn't slept a full night since she got back.

"Just a few hours." She answered almost sarcastically. "But I've got to get up and get moving. Hopefully I can get in to the office early today."

He slowly pushed himself up and his eyes followed her to the bathroom where he quickly found himself staring at the bathroom door.

Elizabeth liked long hot showers, the hotter the better. She liked noise in the background, usually a podcast or songs that evoked happy nostalgia… but today was different. There was no background noise, no calming voice talking about murder mysteries, no Beach Boys, there was only the sound of the water.

When Henry finally spotted her figure in the shower, he could tell she was stiff. Through the steam he could see her tightly closed eyes, he could feel the pressure of her tightly clinched jaw in his own mouth, and his shoulders hurt for hers. He debated stripping off his boxers and t-shirt and joining her, but more times than not since the coup she had been demanding her space – so he gave it to her. He put on his robe and headed downstairs to make breakfast for his family and wait for the next argument that they would hide from the children and for his concern for her to grow.

"Hey, good morning everyone!" She exclaimed as she walked down the stairs. She was trying so hard to sound fine, but she was also failing.

"Morning mom." Aly quickly chimed in.

"Morning." Stevie followed.

Jason remained glued to his phone and simply offered her a head nod.

"Good morning honey." Henry greeted her with a kiss on the cheek.

"So, family dinner tonight. Don't forget! I'm going to do my best to be back home in time." Elizabeth reminded the family, while she had trouble getting excited about most things, she was actually looking forward to a few hours of family time.

"I'm actually having dinner with some friends… I meant to tell you yesterday." Stevie really did regret not telling her earlier, she had full intention of telling her mother when she suggested family dinner tonight but the concern she had for her mother was taking up more of her thoughts than not.

"I've got a study group… I've got a biology test tomorrow so Kara, Megan, and I were going to get together to go over notes." Aly chimed in.

Elizabeth would never be upset with her daughter for valuing her education, but after everything that happened in Iran, the feelings and sights she was still struggling with, she craved quality time with them.

"Well Jase, looks like it's you and us tonight!" Henry said trying to get ahead of any potential arguments that may arise as a result.

"Yea, the three of us, the three musketeers!" Elizabeth looked at her husband and offer a slight smile. She was disappointed and he could tell.

"Alright well, I've got to go!" Aly stated picking up her bag and heading towards the door.

"Let's go kid!" Stevie placed a firm hand on Jase's shoulder and he reached down to grab his bag.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." He responded, somewhat reluctantly to her reminder.

"Bye guys, have a good day! Be safe!" Elizabeth told them, getting a little louder with each word as they got further away from her and closer to the door. "What the hell was that? Now suddenly everyone is too busy for family night? They used to love family night." She stated turning towards Henry.

"They're getting older, this happens. No big deal." He was already trying to do damage control before her meltdown started.

"Yea, no big deal alright." Her added eyeroll told him everything he needed to know. She was upset but she was always upset these days. "I gotta go." She offered him a quick peck kiss and headed out.

The real reality of what happened always hit her in the car. She usually spent this time asking Frank how his night was, if he and his wife had any plans, how his sons soccer game went, she spent that time getting to know him. Now there was another man in his spot.

It wasn't that the new Frank wasn't nice, he was a wonderful man, but he wasn't Frank and she wasn't ready to build the rapport that she and Frank had built. She wasn't ready to get attached to someone in such a friendly way that may put their life on the line for her. She didn't want to think she was that import.

She sat in silence for the eight minutes it took her motorcade to arrive at her office. She somehow felt as if she was being crushed and being incredibly protected when she was in her motorcade, but for some reason today she wasn't looking forward to her motorcade door opening. She wanted to stay in the peace of the silence a little bit longer.

"We're here ma'am." Her driver said as new Frank got out of his seat in front of the SUV to open her door.

"Thank you." She told him as she exited the vehicle.

She walked to the elevator and pressed the button for the seventh floor. The ride seemed painfully fast today.

The doors opened and she walked quickly to the end of the room with all of her staff ready to greet her and get moving on with her day.

"Good morning ma'am…" Blake started.

"Why is there a nurse in my sitting room?" She cut him off looking around at her staff for answers?

"You wouldn't follow up so we did." Nadine declared. Nadine cared more for her boss sometimes than herself.

"I told you I would follow up with my doctor when I had the chance!" Elizabeth shot back. She felt undermined by her team but she respected their actions.

Before she knew it the nurse that was sitting in her sitting room was quickly examining the stiches in her side. She was asking about pain and how she was feeling. Elizabeth felt it was easier to lie to people who didn't know her. She quickly informed her that she felt fine, no pain, and hoped the exam would be done.

"Just need a blood test, ma'am." Thankfully the nurse was almost done.

"Let's multitask." Elizabeth said leading her nurse to her desk.

Elizabeth listened as she was briefed about rainforests in the Amazon and the poor girl briefing her nearly passed out at the sight of her blood. The nurse finished up quickly and Elizabeth went on with her day.

Her day seemed normal, at least as normal as it could feel with her still reeling from the events in Iran. The chest pain never seemed to end, the shortness of breath would come and go but when they both hit together, it was clear something wasn't right.

As soon as she was able to pull herself away from the ambassador, she alerted her staff and they called 911. She didn't think things could get worse than they were but a heart attack certainly wouldn't make things any better.

Blake called Henry, Nadine called Russel, and Daisy made sure none of the press would come calling. The EMTs quickly loaded her into the ambulance and rushed her to George Washington Hospital.

The oxygen she was receiving felt like the miracle drug her body had been missing. The aspirin felt like a temporary band aid on her heart. Her husbands touch while being wheeled to the cardiac unit relaxed her ever so slightly. Maybe her heart was actually broken… well… blocked. Maybe this heart attack would be a reset button.

She was disappointed when the doctor finally broke it to her that it wasn't a heart attack. Her hopes of open heart surgery fixing her problems was gone meaning she actually had to work on herself and her mental health to feel normal again.

As much as she wanted her husband to tell her what she wanted to hear, that she was strong and this was nothing, he wasn't about to do that.

"Navy seals go through this, do you really think you're stronger than a navy seal?" He asked her, somewhat rhetorically, somewhat truthfully.

"Maybe one of the really runty ones, yea." She answered, somewhat jokingly, somewhat seriously.

He continued on about how she needed to calm down, reduce her stress, and not be afraid to open up. He wasn't an expert in PTSD, but he was an expert in her and he knew she would struggle with that. She was stronger than she realized but she was more afraid to be weak than she should be.

"Madam Secretary," her doctor quickly chimed in getting both Elizabeth and Henry's attention and focus. "You'll be good to be discharged soon, we're just waiting on your blood work results from earlier to rule anything else out, once we get those you'll be good to go! I'm going to send you home with a prescription for an anti-anxiety medicine and strict doctors orders to take it easy and relax as much as you can."

The couple nodded and agreeance. This was about Elizabeth healing, in every possible way. Henry knew Elizabeth would not be happy about orders to take it easy, but if he could squeeze a day of rest and relation out of her he'd consider it a small win.

It seemed much shorter than it was but shortly after making her last appearance, the secretary's doctor appeared at the end of the curtain next to her bed once again.

"Madam Secretary… we got your bloodwork back, everything looks fairly good and I believe you're good to go but we do need to have a discussion about a further course of action after something we saw on your blood test. I'm going to pull in a colleague, it will only be a minute." The doctor quickly turned around as the couple turned to each other with looks of worry have no idea how their lives were about to change.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews! I can tell I'm a little rusty but hopefully getting back into the swing of writing. I'm so sorry for getting Fred's name wrong, to be honest I was lazily watching the episode and writing at the same time and didn't pay enough attention. I've done a lot of research for these next few chapters to try to get everything as accurate as possible so I'm hoping that pays off and you guys like it! **

Her heart felt like it was pounding out of her chest again, maybe this time it really was a heart attack. There were a lot of unanswered questions about Iran… could she have been exposed to something? Could she have developed some sort of infection from her injuries? Why would a specialist be needed? Wasn't everything ok?

As a million and one thoughts were racing through her and Henry's minds, they were pulled out of thought by Elizabeth's doctor and a younger colleague. "Madam Secretary, this is my colleague Dr. Moore." Her doctor turned her gaze to Dr. Moore.

"Hi Madam Secretary, I'm Dr. Anita Moore, there were trace levels of hCG in your blood work leading us to believe you may be pregnant! Let me be my first to offer my congratulations!" She slightly paused but there was no noise to fill it, the couple was stunned. Wanting to fill the silence, Dr. Moore continued. "Your hCG levels are consistent to that of a pregnancy at roughly 11 – 12 days after conception. I know you've been under some stress lately and that coupled with the higher heart rate that accompany pregnancy, this could be a contributing factor to your chest pain and possibly to your panic attack as well. It's too early for us to confirm anything by ultrasound and obviously with higher age comes a higher rate for complications but with careful monitoring starting now, I believe you'll have as healthy of a pregnancy as possible!"

Information, so much information. Emotions, so many emotions. Words, so few words.

"Ugh, thank you. What do we need to do now?" Henry thankfully broke the silence because she wouldn't be able to. She had been through so much and now to hear this… she thought if she tried to stand her legs would give out. Her heat felt like it was beating a thousand beats per minute, her head was spinning and her hands shaking. This couldn't be happening.

"Right now, pre-natal vitamins are a necessity. I'd like to monitor your hCG levels every few weeks for the next month or so and then we can discuss an ultrasound. Take all the usual precautions, eat healthy, up your caloric intake about 300 calories or so, watch your stress and caffeine and most importantly, listen to your body." Dr. Moore wasn't really telling her anything she didn't already know but it was amazing how quickly she could forget what it took to be pregnant.

"Thank you, Dr. Moore." Elizabeth was able to respond, still obviously in shock.

"I'm going to go ahead and get your discharge paperwork going and we'll have you out of here soon." With that, both of her doctors left.

"What just happened? What are we going to do?" Elizabeth was amazed she could find words, considering she couldn't find the ability to move her eyes to her husband.

He reached out to stroke her hand, "we're going to have a baby!"

Henry liked saying that out loud. He loved being a father, he loved Elizabeth being pregnant, he loved taking care of her during and after your pregnancy. He loved everything about becoming and being a father – but he knew this time was different. This time was risky, this time they were older and in different places in their lives than they were with Stevie, Aly, and Jason. He knew it would take a lot to slow her down, he knew her obvious and finally diagnosed PTSD would complicate everything about this pregnancy, but he knew he was already in love with his future child.

She finally found the strength to look at him. "How are we going to do this?" Tears started to fill her eyes as the words came out of her mouth.

"I don't know exactly but I know we're going to find a way." He was trying hard to keep it together for her, but like her he was scared. He really didn't know how they would do it, just that he couldn't wait to.

"Ok Madam Secretary, here's all the information for your discharge. I've prescribed you a small dose of Prozac, to be taken as needed. Dr. Moore has added her recommendations for your nutritional requirements as well as suggested follow up times!" The doctor handed her the paperwork and Elizabeth quickly tried to make sense of all of it. "Congratulations ma'am!" With that, her doctor turned and left her little piece of seclusion while another nurse came in and began removing Elizabeth's IV and oxygen.

"Alright, let's get you out of here." Henry said helping her out of her bed and around the curtain to be greeted by her detail. The group of them walked closely together through the hospital walls where some of the hospital staff was still starstruck by her presence.

Once they reached the safety of their motorcade, Henry was finally ready to break the silence. "So, I think you should take the rest of the day off. Everyone is going to understand." He expected a fight, he got silence. "Elizabeth?"

"What? Yea sorry, I think I need to as well." She pulled her attention out of her thoughts and back to the major issue at hand.

"How are you feeling? Really, give me the truth." Henry asked.

"I'm nervous as hell, I'm scared, I'm still reeling from the coup. In all truthfulness, I'm exhausted: mentally, physically, and emotionally. I'm still trying to process that this is happening." She finally gave him the honesty he craved. "I also think I'm already having cravings." She said with a slight giggle.

He smiled, "12 days in and you're already having cravings?! This is going to be a long nine months."

She returned the smile and was reminded how nice it felt to smile.

When their motorcade finally arrived at their home, all she could think about was a nap. Being snuggled up in bed with her husband taking a mid afternoon lap was a luxury she hadn't been able to enjoy in years.

"What was that craving you were having?" Henry asked slightly smugly knowing that the answer would be some sort of pasta with vodka sauce and as much garlic bread as her heart could handle.

"Ooooh does that little Italian place around the corner deliver?" She asked, he was right.

"I knew it! Let me guess, penne with vodka sauce and three garlic breadsticks?" He didn't really know why he bothered to ask, he knew he was right.

"Damn you know me so well!" She smiled, he really did know her better than she knew herself.

"I'll send someone out for it, I'll have someone pick up the pre-natal vitamins and your prescription as well." He told her showing her that he was ready to take care of her, even if it was just by telling someone else what she needed.

"Make sure they don't tip anyone off." She responded, privacy was going to be especially important now.

"I won't." He said as they were walking up the stairs to their bedroom.

"Speaking of not tipping anyone off, we aren't going to tell anyone about this yet, right?" She asked. While she wanted his opinion, she ultimately knew the choice was hers.

"We'll do whatever you want." Henry always left this decision up to his wife. She was the one who had a carry a child for nine months, she had to go through the pain, through the exhaustion, and through the unsolicited belly touching.

"Let's wait. Keep this secret between the two of us. Between work and the kids and the public, this might be the only thing we get to." She said knowing he would obviously agree.

"Always. Now, let's get that nap out of the way before the kids get home and we're making dinner and helping with homework."

That. That was the slight reminder that would pull her out of this temporary euphoria. She checked out of her conversation with Henry and right back into Iran. The memories of the coup flooded her mind again. Henry instantly observed the shift in her body language.

"What? What is it?" He asked.

"It's nothing." She quickly snapped back.

He tried to wrap his arms around her for her to quickly push them away and walk towards her closet. She silent pulled out a light colored sweater and cotton sleep shorts and headed into their bathroom.

"Please let's talk about this!" He begged. He wanted her to be ok, he wanted her to communicate, he wanted to help heal her.

"I don't want to talk about it!" She spit back. "I don't have anything to talk about!"

She emerged from the bathroom in her comfy clothes and curled up in their messy bed. Soon the phone next to their bed rang.

"Hello?" Henry answered. "Ok thanks, I'll be right down." "Food is here, I'll be right back." He told her as he walked out the door.

She wanted to sleep, she wanted to cry, she wanted to burst, but most of all she wanted to appear strong when she absolutely didn't need to.

Henry emerged with their lunch very quickly. "Here you go!" He said handing her two take out containers and a plastic fork.

"Thanks." She responded pushing herself up to a seated position.

"I don't know how I'm going to deal with your garlicy breath for nine months." Henry said lovingly glaring at Elizabeth as she shoved a bread stick into her mouth. "But I'm very excited to."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry if this story seems a little predictable (and out of character for Elizabeth in that last chapter) I promise some change is coming! Thank you for all the reviews! **

"Why don't you take another day?" He asked as she walked into their bathroom the next morning, slightly earlier than usual.

"The world doesn't wait, Henry." She responded.

"It doesn't have to but why don't you at least try your anti-anxiety medicine and just take another day. I know you didn't sleep much last night." He wanted her to get better, he wanted her to feel better and he knew she couldn't do that by putting all of her attention into work.

"Henry, I've had enough. I'm going back to work, please cut the crap." With that, she swiftly ended the conversation and he left their bedroom to head downstairs and make breakfast as she walked into their bathroom.

Half an hour later she emerged from the bathroom and met her husband downstairs. She was so thankful that he had already made coffee. She grabbed a mug out of the cabinet and began filling it with the fresh coffee Henry had just made. Her cup was halfway full when he slightly pulled it up and stopped her from filling it.

"Hey, limit your caffeine. You saw what Dr. Moore's notes said." He was only doing it because he was thinking of her.

She was livid. "Don't worry about it." She wanted the conversation to end there.

"You know what? No, I am going to worry about it. You're a day off a panic attack and finding out you're…" He started but was quickly cut off.

"Don't say it!" She whispered angerly.

"Take a break, Elizabeth. You won't be ready to go back until you talk." He continued.

"Don't tell me what I should and shouldn't do or how I'm going to feel. You don't know." She declared loudly and then walked out the door, giving up the fight on the coffee.

Truth was, she wasn't ready to go back to work. Her heart was breaking as each moment went on. Why was a life taken for her to create another one? Why did even just the slightest mention of helping the kids with their homework take her back to gun fire and explosions? Why did just the sight of capital building cause her heart to race again? Why was that pressure in her chest back? Why was all of this happening and why was she spared?

Much sooner than she hoped, her motorcade arrived at her office and she was quickly on the elevator up to her overwhelmingly stressful office. The moment the doors opened, she was overwhelmed, she wanted out. That feeling in chest was creeping back in, her heart was racing. Aid began talking, she began tuning it out.

She got into her office and alone fairly quickly, but even just being there was too much for her. She was fine admitting defeating and this time she needed to. She called Henry. She was admitting defeat. She wasn't ready and she was going home.

Once she arrived home, he was waiting with open arms. "I'm sorry." She began. "I wasn't ready to go back. You were right."

"I know. I know. It's ok baby." He said as he pulled her in to an embrace and slowly stroked her hair as she began to cry.

"Let's talk about it." She finally said. Words he had been waiting to hear.

So they talked. She told him everything. She told him how she was feeling, why she felt overwhelmed. She admitted she wasn't ok.

"Thank you. Thank you for talking to me." He valued how much she admitted, he valued that she finally opened up and he wanted her to know that.

"Why do I feel so guilty about this baby?" It felt a little odd to her to say 'baby' because the news was so fresh.

"I don't know, but please don't. I won't tell you it will be easy, you know it won't just like I do, but I do know that we will be over the moon." He didn't really know how to comfort her but he was going to try his best.

There was a pause just long enough to pull her into an old memory. "Do you remember when we found Stevie crying her eyes out one night on the stairs after Aly was born?"

The memory was enough to bring a smile to both of their faces. While at the time the moment was heartbreaking, seeing their oldest little girl crying, partially out of frustration and partly out of desperation, as a result of losing their full attention and now having to share it with their littlest baby girl. It was a moment so engrained in their memories that it always brought a smile to their faces. They laugh now over what they said, telling Stevie she was always their oldest and they would always love her longer… a statement which would come back to bite them in the butt a few times, but it never fails to remind them of how well they can actual handle having multiple children.

Elizabeth broke the silence with a statement he should have expected but somehow never crossed his mind. "Are we doing that again to our family?" Henry opened his mouth to cut in but was cut off because his lips could form a word of rejection. "To ourselves? To the country?"

He wanted to believe her questions were rhetorical but he knew she was being serious. "No. Sure it may be an adjustment for the kids but Stevie and Alison have done this before and Jason… he might see it as a blessing, a new recruit for his household uprising." The subtle jab at their youngest son made her giggle. "And let's take the country off the table. They don't get a say in this."

"I still have to think about my duty though" she began, adjusting herself on the couch they had moved to earlier "it's my job."

"You're more than your job, Elizabeth." This wouldn't be the first time Henry had reminded her of that.

She let those words settle in. She needed to hear them whether she wanted to or not. She wasn't just the Secretary of State and she wouldn't be that forever… she would always be Elizabeth Adams McCord. Whatever decision she made, she would live with. Everyone else would simply hold an opinion.

Henry thought of any other reassurances she would need that whatever decision she would make would be the correct decision but he didn't know what to say. He typically wasn't afraid to ask her what she actually needed to hear but this time he was leaving that to her.

"Should we ask the kids?" She asked quizitively. He let out a small sigh of relief, finally a sign that she was looking at this from Elizabeth's perspective and not the Secretary of State's.

"We can ask them all we want, are you wanting to leave the decision up to the kids because I know your opinion of people making decisions for women." He answered, another small smile from her. "Elizabeth, this is your decision, it always will be your decision. I will give you my opinion if you want it, if not, I respect your decision."

"My final decision is…" she paused, knowing he would be hanging on her every word, waiting for her final decision. "Pasta, again. Always pasta."

They laughed together, it felt so good to laugh together again.

"You do know you don't have to make a decision right now, right? Even Dr. Moore said that while your bloodwork said you were pregnant, you're barely pregnant – 11 days is nothing. If it wasn't for the bloodwork we wouldn't even know! We have plenty of time to think about it!" Henry was always a realist.

"I know…" She began as she shifted herself to face him. While she wanted to continue, she was cut off by the sound of the front door opening.

They both looked behind them to see Stevie walking in the door.

"Hey sweetie!" Henry said to Stevie, slightly surprised but doing a good job hiding it.

"Hey guys, everything ok?" The slight of both of her parents home in the middle of the day was slightly suspicious.

"Yea, just needed a day off." Elizabeth answered standing up and adjusting her sweater. "What's got you home early?"

"Got off early, was going to grab an early dinner with Grace and Lily but Grace had to cancel so we decided we'd just meet up for dinner tomorrow." Stevie didn't need to lie, she had asked off early today to meet her friends and didn't want to stay when the plans were cancelled this morning. She had hoped she'd have the house to herself but was somewhat happy to have her parents home.

"Why don't we go out for ice cream?" Henry suggested excitedly. He wanted to break the slight silence that had began and was hoping to take Elizabeth's mind off everything that was going on.

"I could go for that!" Stevie answered. It would nice to feel a little normal again.

"Eh, I might stay put, I avoided any media frenzy yesterday… I don't think I can get lucky two days in a row." As her words left her lips she let out a slight smile as she thought about her team. Her team that she figured would be supportive, no matter what happened or what she chose.

"Come on mom…" Stevie slightly whined. "You can stay in the car. Dad can drive, agent on one side in the back, you on the other. No one will ever know!"

Stevie was always her 'hard daughter,' the one that was headstrong and in trouble, but she was creative and thoughtful.

"Come on, Bess! Let's go!" Henry got up and put his arm around his wife's shoulders, walking towards the front door. There may not be too many more of these moments with just Stevie and there hadn't been any in a while. He made the decision, it was time to enjoy it.

She enjoyed the slights of everything around her as Stevie and Henry got into some in depth conversation in the front seat. She wasn't up for talking right now, just soaking everything in: soaking in these little moments that were few and far between now, soaking up the sights of her neighborhood that she so quickly forgot about, and soaking up her thoughts.

"What do you think mom?" Stevie asked pulling her out of her thoughts. Crap. What was the best way to disguise that she hadn't been paying attention to a single word they said since they got into the car.

"Yea, I think that's very possible and a great idea!" Elizabeth answered. Why did she let the words keep coming out after 'yea?'

"Yea the Bengals are going to win the Super Bowl over the Redskins?" Stevie jokingly questioned her while she and Henry laughed.

She let out a slight giggle, that was a really stupid prediction she had just agreed to. "Sorry, little bit distracted." Elizabeth responded.

"Alright, we're here." Henry announced. "Cake batter milk shake?" He turned around and asked Elizabeth.

She smiled at him and gave him a slight nod 'yes' as he returned her smile and closed the door. She was amazed how well Henry remembered all of her pregnancy cravings, even when this pregnancy hadn't brought it's own yet. With Stevie it was the vodka sauce and garlic breadsticks, Allison was anything with garlic and pepper jelly, and Jason was cake batter milkshakes.

No matter what she would choose, she was so happy to have him by her side.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews! I've been doing research through multiple avenues to ensure I have everything as correct as I can! This chapter does have a time jump and at this point I feel like it's important to start each chapter with an update on Elizabeth's gestation just to make things a little easier. **

**4 Weeks**

She hated Tuesdays. Mondays were do-able, Wednesdays could be accomplished but Tuesdays. Tuesdays were the worst. She didn't just hate them because they were the worst day of the week, she hated them because it meant another, more obvious lie she would have to tell to her staff about why she had another unannounced meeting with a potential housekeeper or babysitter who was really just a member of Dr. Moore's staff coming to check on her.

Maybe she hated nausea. What she assumed was the start of her morning sickness started on Sunday, Dr. Moore had told her morning sickness wasn't necessarily an indication that everything was going smoothly but she liked to think it was.

By this point in her thoughts, she had already realized Henry was no longer in bed but their alarm clock hadn't went off. Her main focus was just to feel better so she got up and quickly got in the shower. She wanted to stand under the scorching hot water for hours but also knew she needed food to feel better, even if only until she finally threw it back up. She quickly got dressed, wrapped her hair up in a towel and walked downstairs.

Henry had gotten a jumpstart on breakfast and she was thankful she didn't spend the hours she wanted because it meant they had a few minutes awake and together before life came in between them.

"Hi honey, good morning." She whispered in his ear softly as she wrapped her arms around him from behind.

"Good morning sweetie." He returned, turning his head to give her a quick kiss while still managing to move the diced potatoes around the griddle.

"Potatoes? Good choice!" She said with a smile as she poured a cup of coffee.

"Yea, I know you haven't been feeling good and Dr. Google recommended potatoes to help with…" he wouldn't say anything in fear would of the kids were be listening but his small head tilt towards her was enough to get the point across. "By the way, that's decaf. Time to start making some smarter decisions."

"Thanks, babe." She really did appreciate the gesture, even if she really wanted caffeine more.

The rest of the morning went out without a hitch. Kids had breakfast, everyone went off to school and work, and she tried her best to put her 'lying to my staff' face back on before she got to her office. Each ding on the elevator brought her closer to the reality she didn't know if she was ready to face – the reality of telling her staff what was actually going on.

She always made sure these "meetings" officially started about 10 minutes before she got there. It gave her a reason to quickly rush into it and ensure she wouldn't be disturbed for the next 15 or 20 minutes. She was ready to tell, she hated keeping this a secret.

Finally the elevator doors open and she was quickly greeted by Blake and Nadine.

"Good morning Madam Secretary, you've got an 11:30 meeting with the British ambassador, just a quick, friendly lunch. Your 8:00AM is also here and Conrad is a little worried about conducting personal business in the state department…" Blake began.

"Yea yea I'll handle Conrad."

"There also seems to be a slight issue arising in Russia, may require some attention and we need to connect as soon as possible." Nadine told her.

The three of them kept walking quickly as Blake went over more details of her schedule that were irrelevant at this point and Nadine kept pushing Russia. Finally they arrived at her office and she saw a nurse she had seen before waiting in a chair outside her office. Crap. She interviewed Jess two weeks ago as a housekeeper, now she was a nanny? This charade wasn't going to last long.

"Hi Madam Secretary, great to see you again!" Jess reached out her hand.

"You too! Thanks for coming back to meet with me, I'll try to make this as quick as possible!" Elizabeth told her motioning Jess into her office.

Once the ladies were in, she shut the door behind them and headed towards the sofa where Jess was already unpacking her necessary items and setting everything up on the coffee table.

"How are you feeling ma'am?" Jess asked, picking off their appointment.

"Well… I think morning sickness is about to start. Lots of nausea, especially in the morning and late nights since Sunday. Exhaustion is kicking in too, but that might be just because I've finally kicked caffeine." Elizabeth responded, adding a slight smile at the end. She was somewhat proud of herself for getting down to one cup of coffee a day.

"That's wonderful!" Elizabeth hadn't even realized Jess was taking her blood pressure until she was removing the cuff. "Blood pressure is great!"

"Great!" She responded a little bit less enthusiastic than Jess.

Jess put her the end of her stethoscope in her ears and quickly told her patient that she was going to check her heartrate. Elizabeth took a few breaths in and Jess quickly moved her stethoscope back to her back.

"Heart rate is great too! Right arm or left?" Elizabeth knew the deal by now, Jess was asking what arm she wanted her to draw blood from.

"Ugh, right." Elizabeth responded choosing her right arm because it was the one closest to Jess and handing out her arm.

Jess quickly collected the two vials of blood she needed, sealed them in a bag, and placed them back in her tote. "That's all for today ma'am, Dr. Moore would like to see you in her office for your next appointment. She's also suggested we continue with regular blood work for about the next month and then reduce to regular office visits every three weeks. Would you like me to move your next appointment to her office at the same time?"

Elizabeth couldn't think about her schedule just yet. Two weeks was still so far away. But she agreed. "Yes, that would be great, thanks!"

"Thank you ma'am! As always, if you need anything, we're here and we'll see you in two weeks!" Jess gathered her bag and headed towards the door, Elizabeth walking next to her.

"Thanks again for meeting with me, Jess! We'll confirm everything in the next couple of days but I think next Tuesday would be a great start!" She watched Jess walk away and Nadine walk in, just as expected.

"Madam Secretary, with all due respect, what's going on?" Nadine was sure to shut the door behind her. She knew that wasn't an interview for a housekeeper or a babysitter and she knew the staff wouldn't see through it much longer.

Elizabeth didn't answer her immediately, she took her time to sit behind her desk, get as comfortable as she could as quickly as she could, and turn to face Nadine.

"Why do you think I'm up to something?" She was going to keep the attention off what was really going on as long as she could.

"I don't know but I know Jess isn't here to interview to be your housekeeper or a babysitter. We all know that." Nadine was going to push some buttons, but she wanted answers. Not because she felt she had a right to know but because she knew something wasn't right with her boss.

"Alright Nadine you want to really know?" Elizabeth started crossing her arms and leaning forwards to rest them on her desk. "This is between you and me." Fear crept into Nadine with every word. "I'm pregnant."

Nadine was thankful… thankful that she was able to catch herself before her jaw dropped to the floor. "Oh wow, ma'am, I had no idea… congratulations?" She wasn't sure if this was a 'congratulations' or an 'oh crap' kind of pregnancy.

"Yea I guess that works." Elizabeth responded. It was somewhere in between 'congratulations' and 'oh crap.'

"If you don't mind me asking, how far along?" Nadine asked.

"About four weeks. We've surprisingly known for a while thanks to modern medicine and a random panic attack." Elizabeth responded with just enough answer for Nadine to figure out when Henry and Elizabeth found out and how long she had been keeping it a secret. "I would like for this to stay between the two of us. My pregnancy is obviously high risk, I haven't even gotten into the nitty gritty of pregnancy symptoms, and there's still a lot of my own questions that I haven't been able to answer." She felt the potatoes she ate for breakfast creeping up. She had been a little light headed since Jess left but that was common anytime she had blood drawn.

"Yes ma'am and if I can…" Nadine began sweetly but was cut off.

"Nadine, give me just a minute." Elizabeth darted as calmly as she could to her bathroom as the potatoes made a guest appearance in her day.

Nadine just stood in silence. She wasn't sure what to do. She didn't feel as if the Secretary would appreciate her barging in but she wasn't sure what the Secretary would actually want in terms of help when she was able to rejoin her. Holy cow. The Secretary of State was pregnant. She always thought it would be Daisy they would be having this discussion with, not her boss. She was still caught up in her thoughts when the sound of Elizabeth opening the bathroom door pulled her to the present.

"Looks like we've got about eight more months of this to go." Elizabeth tried her best to break the silence in a humorous way and while it wasn't lost on her Chief of Staff, Nadine would rather focus on the matter at hand than make jokes.

"Would you like me to clear your schedule for you ma'am?" She thought maybe time off would help.

"No, we'll, I'll just have to get used to this." Elizabeth started working her way back to her desk. "I do need to you to clear off my schedule the morning of the 21st."

"Yes ma'am." Nadine said and started to turn around as Elizabeth sat back down at her desk. "And ma'am," Elizabeth looked up at her "your secret is safe with me."

"Thanks, Nadine." That was Nadine's que that it was time to leave the secretary's office.

Elizabeth was happy to have a moment alone, a moment to get lost in her own thoughts now that her morning sickness was making itself known. Her hand unconsciously made it's way to her stomach as her head made it's way back and her eyes made their way to the ceiling. Once her head realized where her hand was she pulled her glaze down to it. "It's you and me, kiddo." She said lovingly to her stomach. She was pregnant, and she was so happy to be.

She was quickly pulled out of her little moment of joy with her little bundle of joy by the sound of her office door opening and Blake, Daisy, and Matt made their way in.

"Good morning everyone!" She began realizing she hadn't formally greeted them.

"Good morning ma'am, the president has requested a meeting with you as soon as possible to discuss Russia. When should I tell him you're free?" Blake began.

"You can tell him I'm on my way." Elizabeth turned in her chair and began walking towards the door.

"Ma'am we also have a 2:00PM meeting with…" Daisy began but Elizabeth as she followed her boss closely.

"With someone, I know. Let's talk about this when I get back. I'd also like to start clearing some time in my afternoon schedule, maybe around 1:00 or so." Her staff was noticeably confused. She was taking the time because now that her morning sickness had started, her afternoon sickness wouldn't be far behind.

"Come on guys, let's go." She said walking past Nadine's desk and on to the elevator. She was happy to be out of the office today and as long as everyone else was distracted with the things going on around her, she could sneak in a few little moments to enjoy her new found happiness.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you all so much for the feedback! Writing about Elizabeth's work life is not my strong suit but I'm trying to figure out how to best do that. Chapters from here may be a little shorter as I just cover pieces and try to leave her work out.**

**6 Weeks**

"You ready honey?" Henry looked lovingly at his wife. Today was their first "real" pre-natal appointment. The kids had just left and the couple finally had a couple of moments alone to really process their situation.

"Yea!" She answered lovingly.

They walked together to the front door, past her security detail and to the waiting SUV. Once the doors were shut and they were safely in their vehicle, one of the agents in the front seat finally spoke up.

"Madam Secretary, I just wanted to say congratulations again! We made sure to stock your car with mints and a few bags should you need them. We aren't going to change any protocol just yet but we'll touch base again once your pregnancy becomes public knowledge."

Elizabeth and Henry told her detail about her pregnancy the day before. It was looking like a trip to Russia would be eminent and with upcoming doctors appointments and constant "stomach bugs" there were only so many people they could hide it from. Having a few people to tell as a couple felt… good.

"Thank you boys!" She responded. "I'd like to keep things as normal as possible for as long as possible." She felt the need to verbalize what she was feeling inside and luckily it applied perfectly to this situation.

"Of course ma'am, that's the plan!" One of them responded.

Henry's hand had been resting on her and she finally looked to him for reassurance and support like he had been waiting for her to. He gave her a smile which was quickly returned. She looked down at her stomach, not realizing he had also taken his glaze there. There were so many emotions they were finally feeling but it was hard to feel past the excitement.

They pulled up to a back entrance of an office building complex. The couple unbuckled their seatbelts as their detail exited the car to open their doors. Elizabeth was a little slower to exit the car but her movements were very strategic, she wanted to walk in the building with Henry, to be by his side for nothing more than comfort.

The couple was quickly whisked through the building and into an exam room at the end of a narrow hallway. A nurse was close behind them, ready to start off their appointment and get the couple in and out of the office as quickly as possible.

Once the couple was in the exam room, the nurse began the necessary protocol. "Hello Madam Secretary, Dr. McCord."

"Good morning, Jess! Nice to see you again!" Elizabeth was happy to see Jess's familiar face. She felt that she could trust her.

"How are you feeling today?" Jess asked while pulling out a blood pressure cuff from a metal basket on the wall.

"Today? Good. Every day? Like death." Elizabeth was being honest, today had started off good considering most days she had thrown up her breakfast by now and her stomach was already focused on throwing up lunch while her body craved her first power nap of the day.

Jess smiled at her response. "So, pregnant?"

Elizabeth and Henry instantly picked up on her joke. "Exactly!" She responded with a small giggle. Just as she finished responding, Jess took the blood pressure cuff off Elizabeth's arm.

"130 over 85. Slightly high but nothing too concerning yet." Jess told Elizabeth. "Dr. Moore will be right in! Here's a gown."

Elizabeth had done this enough times to know what she meant by giving her the gown, take off everything and be ready for her feet to be in the stirrups in just a few minutes. Once Jess was out of the room and the door was closed, she began undressing and getting ready for the rest of her appointment.

"Looking good Madam Sexytary!" Henry flirted while Elizabeth was in the middle of changing.

"Haha very funny." Elizabeth shot back only slightly amused.

"What?! I can't remind my wife how great pregnancy makes her look?!" He continued to flirt.

She shot him a look and a quick eye roll before closing the gown to the best of her abilities and sitting back on the exam table. Before she had time to respond, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Elizabeth said, almost unconsciously.

"Hi, Elizabeth, great to see you again!" Dr. Moore walked in and greeted the secretary as she closed the door with her other hand. "Dr. McCord, nice to see you as well!" The doctor temporarily turned her attention to the only man in the room before turning her attention back to Elizabeth. "How are you feeling?"

"Well… today is a good day but most days my morning sickness has hit by now and stays around pretty much all day while I pray for a power nap." Elizabeth answered, she was thankful for her symptoms but really wished she could catch a break before this goes on for potentially another eight months or so.

"So pretty normal! That's good! Anything else going on?"

"My boobs are sore to the touch…" She answered and was quickly cut off my Henry's slight giggle.

Both Elizabeth and Dr. Moore's attention was pulled to the giggling elephant in the room.

"As expected, any back pain or cramping?" Dr. Moore continued.

"A little back and hip pain, nothing too uncomfortable." Elizabeth answered, back pain was typically the one symptom she could tolerate all pregnancy but with her other pregnancy it hadn't started until she had started to show.

"On a scale of 1 – 10 how would you rate your pain?"

"Maybe a three and a half? Nothing too terrible, just mainly uncomfortable."

"Ok good! Now, with your previous pregnancies, any major complications?" While she had gotten most of the secretary's medical history, it was always nice to hear it from her patients.

"Textbook pregnancy with my first, nothing crazy with my second just a little more morning sickness than expected leading to some dehydration, preeclampsia with my third, delivered at 37 and a half weeks." Elizabeth wanted this pregnancy to go as smoothly and remain as healthy as possible for herself and her baby so she gave Dr. Moore everything she needed to hear.

"Ok, looks like your blood pressure is a little high now too, nothing to be too concerned about now but we'll keep an eye on it. Let's go ahead and get started with the exam!"

While it seemed like hours for Elizabeth, just a few minutes later Dr. Moore announced she was done with her exam and everything seemed to be going great for her pregnancy.

"I'd like to see you back in about three weeks" Dr. Moore began as she offered a hand to Elizabeth to help her sit up. "just as a precaution. We should be able to hear the heartbeat next week!"

"Thank you, Dr. Moore!" Elizabeth responded.

"I'll go ahead and let you get dressed and Jess will come back in and get your next appointment scheduled." Dr. Moore gave the couple one final smile before walking out the door and closing it behind her.

As soon as the door was closed, Elizabeth looked to Henry and let out a nervous sigh. "We're going to have a baby!" She said.

"Yep, we're going to have a baby!" He responded, happy than he could have ever imagined.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you all so much for the feedback and reviews! I have constantly changed my mind on how I want a few things in this story to go and I'm sorry if in the future some details don't come together… I'm indecisive lol. **

**I want to personally thank the reviewer who said I had great descriptive skills, that was something I never felt I was good at and I've been working really hard to make this as descriptive as possible and I'm glad it's paying off! Thank you so much for that!**

**I do get a little girly and assume Blake knows more about women and hair care than he probably does but bear with me and go along with it!**

**9 Weeks**

Another Thursday, another morning spent with her head in a porcelain toilet bowl. She knew at a minimum she had six more weeks of this but she hoped at some point it would get a little bit better before then. If this kept happening morning, noon, and night, eventually someone on her staff would put two and two together and figure out what was going on.

She had enough decent excuses at first… stress from taking the oath of office, a recently developed and discovered lactose intolerance, maybe jetlag from her trip would work for a day or so? At least she wouldn't abnormally pale, she was attending the Russian president's funeral and black wouldn't give her a ton of color even if she wasn't pregnant.

By the time she had pulled herself out of her thoughts and began to get ready for her day, there was a knock at her hotel door. She threw on a robe and walked out of the bathroom to discover Blake holding his cellphone with the screen facing towards her to show her Henry McCord flashing on his caller ID.

"Ma'am, Dr. McCord has been calling for you all morning. Said you haven't been answering your phones." Blake then handed his phone over to her.

"Thanks Blake." She said taking the phone.

"Hey honey, sorry I've been getting ready." Elizabeth told him, immediately answering what she knew his main question would be.

"That bad?" He asked, it wasn't like her to not answer but if her morning sickness had continued as bad as it had been the past few weeks then he wouldn't be surprised that she didn't answer.

She had to be very calculated with her answer but this was another moment she was thankful for her CIA training and their experience keeping her pregnancy quiet. "Yea, the water pressure in my room is all… weird and it took me forever to get my shampoo out of my hair."

She had turned away from Blake so she didn't notice his eyebrow raise. If it took her so long to get her shampoo out of her hair and Henry had told him he had been calling her for the last 20 minutes… why wasn't her hair wet? Sure he didn't get ready with her every day but he knew hair as thick as the secretary's couldn't be blow dried that quickly.

He was still caught up on her thoughts when she turned around so he didn't see her staring at him. "Oh sorry ma'am." He said coming out of his thoughts and accepting the phone she was reaching out to him. "I… I didn't hear anything." He was nervously shaking his head.

"You did. You heard me lie to Henry. If it were Matt I wouldn't say anything but I think you're a tad bit smarter than him. I wasn't in the shower." She had enough of hiding and it was time, she was going to let Blake in… not because realistically it was time for her assistant to know, but because she wanted an ally when she fell asleep on the plane home. "I need you to keep what I'm going to tell you between you and I…"

Blake was nervous now… in some ways he felt like he had failed at his job because she had kept a secret from him for obviously some amount of time. "Yes… yes ma'am." He answered nervously.

"This wasn't expected… but… I'm pregnant, Blake." She had only said it out loud to a few people and frankly, it felt odd that it was coming so easy.

"Oh… oh my god ma'am… congratulations!" Blake responded in shock and unsure how to carry himself.

"Yea yea it doesn't feel so special when you've been throwing up since 5:00AM and every day for the past month but thanks, the sentiment is noted." She told him because he still had her attention but it was slowly shifting to the events ahead of her and the outfit her press team had picked out for her for the day.

He observed her moves, wondering if there were any needs he could predict. Before he could suggest anything she had her first request. "Could you get me some fruit, strawberries, pineapple, maybe some grapes, and some wheat toast? Ooh and some feta cheese." Blake was slightly confused by the last one but shook his head and began walking out the door to get her room service order working.

After the door shut behind him, she looked back at her skirt laying on the bed. She hated that skirt, she hated it when she bought it but figured now as the most appropriate time to wear it because she could wear it once and have an excuse not to wear it again. She took off her robe and began putting on her blouse, as she was buttoning it her hand lightly glazed over her stomach. It would only be a matter of time before this skirt and blouse wouldn't fit anymore, the skirt for the best. It was also another reminder of the baby she was carrying. One who maybe this time would have her eyes, maybe if it was a boy he would have Henry's smile. She was caught up in her future fantasy when Blake knocked on the door again.

"Madam Secretary… I have your breakfast." He said from the other side of the door.

"One second, Blake!" She hurried to put on her skirt and looked at her watch, crap, she was late.

She opened the door and walked out, much to Blake's surprise. "Ma'am… aren't you going to?"

"Eat that? Yea, let's go, I'll eat it in the car." She cut him off, she didn't have time for questions. They were 20 minutes late to Ostrov's funeral and a bad impression from the United States was sure to upset the Russian people.

"Uh… ma'am." Blake hadn't moved as she was walking down the hall and putting her jacket on.

"What?" She asked somewhat annoyed, mainly hungry, but also annoyed.

"Um…" He looked down at his chest to try her attention to her own.

She looked down and saw your blouse still half unbuttoned. She immediately began to button the buttons as fast as she could. "Pregnancy brain." She said as she finished. "Let's go."

She sat uncomfortably through the funeral. She had forgotten how something the size of an olive would wreak so much havoc on her bladder. Just when her thoughts had drifted far enough away from the funeral to her uncomfortable bladder, Maria Ostrova was sure to bring her back to reality. She knew this wasn't going to be good but it would have been impossible to predict how bad it actually was. Finally after enough verbal blows, she had had enough. She had to pee and she was done with listening to her name and her country being drug through the mud at what should have been a non-partisan event. She left. She motioned for her entire team to leave. Maybe this pregnancy was making her a bit more brave after all.

While Elizabeth handled calls with Dalton and Russell, her staff assembled getting everything ready to make their trip home. She was so ready to be home. Ready to curled up in bed, napping away. A seat on the plane would have to be enough for now. She hung up the phone and turned her attention to her assistant. "You ready?"

"Yes ma'am, we're wheels up in 20." Blake answered.

"Good, I'm lights out in 30." Elizabeth told him with a smile, a reminder to him of the early discussion they had.

"Yes ma'am, I already cleared your schedule and planned to tell the staff you took an Ambien in the car." Maybe Blake was a little bit better with lies than she was.

"Geez kid, you're getting good!" She told him with a laugh and a very playful slap to the chest and then walked down the hallway to leave their hotel.

"I try!" He said with a little giggle but it was too late, her 'Ambien' would be kicking in soon and he needed to catch up.

**A/N: So I had to have a little fun! This might be the last of fun for a few chapters… just prepare yourselves now.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Alright… this is where things will get a little bit more serious. **

**10 Weeks**

This baby really had it out for her. By now she expected the morning sickness to subside a little bit but there was no relief in sight. If she wasn't spilling the contents of her last meal, she was fighting to stay awake despite getting more sleep than usual. It was becoming very obvious to those around her and she would have to tell them all soon.

For now, she could focus on her appointment. Her last appointment had went exactly according to plan, her pregnancy was incredibly healthy and while she was experiencing all the usual pregnancy symptoms, there was nothing to be concerned about. She was ready to hear their baby's heartbeat and looked forward to a few extra hours with Henry.

Luckily she caught a break from vomiting long enough to finish getting ready and head downstairs to the kitchen. There was no denying she looked tired and felt pretty crappy… but it was all going to be worth it in the end… at least that's what she told herself.

While walking down the stairs, she was caught off guard to find Aly running back up the stairs past her "hey… what's up?" She asked as Aly quickly passed her.

"Forgot my AirPods!" Aly said while continuing quickly to her room.

"They need AirPods for school now?" Elizabeth asked to the remaining family members as she grabbed the carton of orange juice from the fridge and poured herself a glass.

Henry just shrugged.

"She doesn't NEED them, but it's Aly so she's going to take them." Jason told the couple, barely looking up from his phone.

Elizabeth just shook her head and looked for a quick snack to starve off her nausea.

"Come on Aly! We're gonna be late!" Stevie yelled up the stairs to her younger sister.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Aly answered walking down the stairs with her headphones in.

Jason gathered his things and followed Stevie towards the door.

"Bye guys!" Elizabeth said trying to catch each one of them in time for a quick kiss on their head.

"Have a good day guys!" Henry told them as he turned around from the sink and quickly waved.

Henry kept his eye on the door and waited for it to close. Once he was sure the kids were gone, he looked over at his wife who was now facing him and finishing her orange juice and put a loving hand on her stomach. "Ready for today?" He asked with a smile.

"Of course!" Elizabeth responded. "You know, I think this baby is going to be just as stubborn as you!" She told him before leaning in for a kiss.

The smiles on their faces would probably be gone if they had noticed Stevie quickly hop in and hear their conversation but as soon as they broke away from their kiss, they gathered their things and proceeded out of the kitchen and to the front door.

They were thankful to be in the motorcade because it meant they could discuss everything freely and Elizabeth seized this opportunity. "What do you think about Gracie for a girl?" She asked, though they were easily another six to ten weeks from finding out if they were having a boy or a girl, she was a planner by nature and was ready to decide some major things.

"Gracie? You hated Grace when I suggested it for Stevie." Henry knew the name Gracie must have been her pregnancy brain because she never liked it.

"But I think it's really cute! Couldn't you imagine another little girl named Gracie?" She was insistent.

"Yea maybe a five year old but can you imagine Gracie graduating college?" She hated when he had a point but he did here, she couldn't really see Gracie growing up. Maybe that's why she liked the name so much?

"Well, do you have any better suggestions?" She asked, if he was going to shoot down her name, she wanted to shoot down his.

"I like Harrison." He responded seriously to her question and clear attempt to shoot down the names he liked.

"Ehh… then he'll get called Harry and that could go really bad with teenage boys." She didn't hate the name Harrison but couldn't imagine everyone calling their son Harrison and him not dealing with one jerk who made a joke of the nickname Harry.

"Yea, what about Jack? Then Jason and Jack could have the same first initial." He suggested.

"I think before we use any letter in Jason's name we'll have to get his approval." Elizabeth responded with a slight giggle. While she was worried how the girls would react to the baby, she was equally as afraid of Jason's plans for a potential little brother.

While they continued to discuss baby names on their way to their appointment, they were still blissfully unaware of the fact that Stephanie knew their little secret.

Stevie quickly dropped Jason off at school but to Aly's surprise Stevie waited in the drop off line until Jason had actually made it all the way into the building.

"You ok?" Aly asked observing her sister's odd behavior.

"Yea, just have a lot going on." Stevie responded, slightly agitated that her sister asked and partly that she couldn't tell her.

"I could skip school and we could go to the mall?!" Aly asked more excited about the opportunity to skip school than actually emotionally support her sister.

"No you can't do that!" Stevie said with a slight giggle at Aly's suggestion, even though she did have the day off.

"Why not? Mom is so caught up with Russia that she's lucky to make it home for dinner and dad has his Tuesday night class. They'll never know!"

"School will call them if you're not there." Stevie might have been a little wild compared to her younger siblings but she was also incredibly reasonable.

"So I go in, go to first period, you sign me out." While Stevie had thought out all the reasons why this wouldn't work, Aly had thought of all the ways they could make it work.

"No way!" Stevie shot it down.

"Come on! With mom traveling and dad's weird schedule this semester, we haven't had much time for just us! We need sister time!" Aly was really hoping to take the day off and while at first she wasn't interested in real quality time with Stevie, the more she thought of it the better it sounded.

Stevie thought through the consequences, on one hand – there was a good chance they could pull it off. On other, their cover would be blown by security and they'd both be grounded for what would feel like years.

Screw it.

"Ok, we'll do it BUT on my terms!" Stevie finally agreed. "You go to all of first period, I pick you up for a 'doctors appointment' and if mom and dad find out you suddenly have a terrible sore throat and you asked me to pick you up."

"Deal!" Aly could make all of that happen.

By the time their deal was made, they had arrived at Aly's school.

"Ok so I'm going to go to Starbucks while you're in class, what do you want?" Stevie asked while Aly gathered her backpack.

"Grande white mocha, extra whip!" Aly said swinging her backpack to her shoulders and shutting the door.

Just like she had done with Jason, she waited for Aly to get all the way inside school before she drove away.

While Stevie drove to Starbucks, still slightly mad at herself for agreeing to aid in Aly's delinquency, Elizabeth and Henry sat in an exam room anxious to hear the sound of their child's heartbeat. They had shared a wonderful conversation on the drive over about baby names and reflected on the memories of the other three times they had done this.

With Stevie, this moment felt so scary – would everything be ok? They had the stereotypical, over protective first time parent persona on lock down. With Aly, it was so easy – they had done this once before and their confidence in their parenting abilities had obviously skyrocketed since having Stevie. With Jason it was joyous, relieving almost, because they had tried for so long to have Jason that they weren't sure it would happen again.

Now, with McCord #4, there was a whole new mix of nerves. There was obviously excitement, as any person in this situation would feel. There was a level of fear that there would be no heartbeat and this tiny being that they had come to know and love wouldn't be, there was also worry for their growing family and this uncertain time… but through all that there was always Elizabeth and Henry.

Dr. Moore knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Elizabeth answered.

"Good afternoon guys, how're you doing?" Dr. Moore asked mainly Elizabeth but she was curious about the couple as a whole.

"Good, exhaustion and nausea is kicking in for sure and my boobs have never been more sore but overall pretty good!" Elizabeth told her.

"That's great to hear! This appointment should be pretty quick. As long as you don't have any major questions or concerns, we'll jump right in to the big show!" Dr. Moore replied.

Elizabeth shook her head and looked at Henry to acknowledge him and any potential questions he may have.

He shook his head with a smile as well.

"Good! Go ahead and lay back and pull your shirt up." Dr. Moore instructed.

As Elizabeth pulled her shirt up, she was slightly surprised with how little her body had changed so far but still in awe at the journey it would go in. Each pregnancy felt so different for her and she knew this one would be no different.

"Ok this will be a little cold!" Dr. Moore told her applying a little gel to her stomach. She really didn't remember how cold that stuff actually was.

Dr. Moore moved the wand part of the small, handheld machine around Elizabeth's stomach. After what was really only about a minute but felt like hours to them, a subtle "thump, thump, thump" filled the room.

Elizabeth wasn't surprised to feel the tears filling her eyes but seeing them stream down Henry's face was much more a surprise.

As the couple cried their happy tears, a whole different personal situation was brewing.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Ahhhhh here comes DRAMA and I am LIVING for it! This wasn't initially in my plan for this story but the more I thought about it, the more I liked this approach. It is going to be upsetting and a trigger warning is just below this. I also wrote it before I saw the stalking episodes so I realize how typical this seems now so I'm sorry.**

**TW: Gun violence**

Jason was in second period. He wasn't a fan of his history teacher – mainly because she had obviously different views on the world but thankfully she did have an incredible amount of respect for his mother and the work she was doing and often cut him slack on assignments as a result.

He wasn't always happy about the covert security that was constantly around his school but he was growing to understand it. He however, would never be able to understand it's flaws – the shots that were currently coming from the other side of his school.

His history teacher had jumped into action, immediately locking down her classroom and working on keeping her students as calm as possible. Maybe she wasn't as bad as he thought.

While he only had a few seconds to actually process what was going on, he soon realized he was about to be the reason many of his classmates might make it out of this experience alive. Those security guards he hated, were there to protect him and were as a result, going to protect his classmates. He wasn't going to let them just protect him.

While the sounds of the shots echoed within his chest, soon the sound of the door flying open pulled him out of his thoughts.

One of his guards spoke into his watch. "Seagull is secure, I repeat seagull is secure."

He didn't realize the shots had stopped a few minutes ago and now he could hear police throughout the school. Chaos was about to erupt but he, his classmates, and his teacher, had made it out alive.

As Elizabeth and Henry enjoyed their moment of sweet peace, their cellphones had been going off for most of the appointment. They had ignored them and asked their agents not to interrupt them as this appointment would be short but incredibly important.

They finished their appointment, shook Dr. Moore's hands, and were surprised to be as rushed out of the door by their guards as soon as it opened. The couple hadn't really ever seen this kind of panic out of their detail before.

When they finally reached the back of the secured SUV, the detail finally informed them of the details. Jason was thankfully ok and surprisingly there were no injuries at all. The shooter had fired into walls and windows but thankfully missed all people around.

Their SUV sped home where they were happy to find their kids waiting. They ran in the door, wrapping all three of their children up in their arms.

"Oh my god I'm so happy you all are ok!" Elizabeth whispered to them as the five up them continued their embrace.

Aly looked up at her mother, Jason faked like he wasn't thankful to be where he was, but Stevie struggled to connect to the situation.

"Ok ok I know big deal but we're fine." Jason pulled away. "The boys are logging on to Xbox in five, can we 'reschedule' the love fest?" Jason added the finger quotations just to jokingly spite his mother.

She didn't want to let any of her babies go but she understood, while today was traumatic, they were just kids at the end of the day.

"One hour." Henry told Jason.

As Jason strolled to the living room, Aly pulled away and informed the rest of the family that she was going to go change out of her uniform, leaving just Stevie and her parents.

"So what was so important that you two couldn't be interrupted? Detail gave your secret away when I was whisked out of a Starbucks." Stevie wasn't having any of their crap. She wasn't going to accept an excuse, she wanted the truth.

"I had a meeting." Elizabeth immediately shot back thinking she could put Stevie back in her place.

"I had an advising meeting with a student." Henry answered alright tired of Stevie's attempts to revive the truth.

"Oh so you both had 'meetings'" those dam air quotations were going to drive Elizabeth mad "that were somehow at the exact same time and apparently the exact same place since you only had one detail driving when you got home?"

"Drop it Stevie, we had things to do." Henry could see where this was going and it wasn't going to be pretty.

"No, I know mom's having a baby. I'm not mad but I'm hurt that you constantly preach about openness and honesty in this family and we can't even get that from you." She wasn't wrong. "This whole experience has been a huge change for all of us and I don't know why you'd want to have another baby but you are, you've known that you are because you had the exact same meetings a couple weeks ago, and mom thinks she's sly but she's been throwing up every morning for about a month."

Henry wasn't having any of this and Elizabeth could tell he was ready to explode so she stepped in. "Yes, ok, you're right. We didn't tell you all for various reasons. We didn't intend to have another baby and there are some things that are going to complicate having a baby. We didn't want to be dishonest but we also didn't want you all to be hurt if something happened."

"I understand, but we are here to support you. Ok maybe Jason has some terms and conditions to that support but we do, why hide this from us?" Stevie understood where they were coming from but still wanted honesty from her parents – especially on family matters like this.

"We just didn't want you to get hurt." Elizabeth was handling this much better than Henry thought it would go. In so many ways he was obviously proud of his wife but also incredibly proud of his daughter for how she was handling it as well.

"Can we make a promise that we'll communicate these things, even if it might hurt us?" Stevie suggested to somewhat of a shock to her parents.

"Yea of course." Henry agreed pulling his oldest daughter into his side.

"So you're going to tell Jason and Aly then, right?" Stevie wanted her siblings to know the truth just as much as she did. They would take this much harder, the transition to DC hadn't been easy for either of them and their mother's job didn't help.

"We'll tell them when it's time." Elizabeth responded.

"No secrets, remember? The time is now." Stevie quipped.

"You're right, we'll tell them." Henry was going to keep up his end of the deal.

"Tell what?" Aly asked from the top of the stairs.

"Tell you that we need to have a family meeting!" Stevie had partially started this discussion and she would at least help her parents have it.

"Jason, pause it." Henry told him poking his head around the corner.

"Give me like, five minutes." Jason answered without turning his attention from his game.

Henry played this game before, not just the video game, the game with Jason. He walked to the end table next to the couch and grabbed the TV remote. He gave Jason another second to set him up for the perfect shot before shutting off the TV.

"Dad!" Jason yelled while standing up and turning around to face his father.

"Come on, family meeting." Henry said walking out of the kitchen and in to the small sitting space near the front door.

Jason sulked his way to a chair, Alyson to a spot next to her mother on the couch, Henry to Elizabeth's other side and Stevie to the floor.

"So, mom and I have something we need to talk about. Before we start, we love you all so much, this isn't going to change that at all. Some things will change around here but it will all be for the better." Henry started.

"Oh my god we know what's going on." Jason said with an eyeroll.

"You do?" Elizabeth asked very concerned that her son had figured out their little secret.

"Yea you all are getting a divorce. David's parents got a divorce last year and the conversation started off exactly the same" Phew, their cover wasn't blown. "'We still love you, this isn't your fault'" Jason continued in a mocking voice. "Yea yea, are we getting two Christmases or are you all going to try and keep it as one so we don't get as many gifts?"

Elizabeth couldn't help but giggle. "You're not getting two Christmases, we're not getting a divorce." That peaked Jason's interest.

"Look, your mom and I are having another baby and this is a shock to both of us and there's still a lot that could go wrong but just like you all we're trying to figure it all out and everything is going to be great!" Henry went ahead and bit the bullet.

"Wait, so I'm not allowed to have a boyfriend over but you're allowed to have all this unprotected sex because you're married? Do you know how much a baby is going to change things around here?! Did you think about that you all just recklessly created some kid?" This was not the reaction anyone expected about of Aly.

"Hey, yes things are different when you're married and mom and dad being married and you not is why you're not allowed to have a boyfriend over when they're not home. Sure some things are going to change but we have to live with that." Elizabeth and Henry were so thankful for Stevie sticking up for them.

"You already don't have enough time for us so you think it's a good idea to have another kid?" Aly wasn't backing down. She remembered the times mom forgot about their plans, she remembered the dinners they didn't have together.

"Yes, our time is stretched very thin but a new baby does mean things have to change in a lot of good ways. I don't have all the answers right now but I promise soon, we will." Elizabeth wanted to comfort her daughter as much as possible.

Well… this was going just about as well as they could have hoped.

"What the hell guys?" Jason asked slightly annoyed.

"Hey, watch your mouth." Henry reminded him.

"We didn't expect to have another baby, we didn't plan on it, but here we are." Elizabeth was very upfront with them, they thought a baby was out of the picture.

"Can I get back to my game?" Jason was taking this all too well… maybe because he knew he had another recruit for his household uprising.

"Sure." Henry dismissed his son.

"I'm going to my room." Aly stormed out clearly upset.

"Don't beat yourselves up, she wasn't going to take it well." Stevie reminded them getting up from her spot and pulling them in for a hug. "I love you guys."

"Thanks my girl, we love you too." Henry told her laying a soft kiss on the top of her head.

Stevie soon cut the embrace short and walked back upstairs to try and reason with Aly.

"Well, I think that makes the score McCords – 0, Life – 3?" Elizabeth asked jokingly.

"Don't get too ahead of yourself, there's still plenty of game left." Henry responded with a smile.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**A/N: Rolling right along! I'm trying to add some mystery to this so I hope it ends up working in the end!**

**12 Weeks**

She would be lying if she said the last week was easy. She had already felt like her parents didn't have enough time for her and her siblings and to find out they were having another baby was the last thing she would have hoped for.

The trip to Cuba had went as good as expected. She wasn't happy to go at first and didn't harbor as much guilt that she should have after she wrecked the car and had it repaired without telling anyone because her parents had just kept a major secret that affected all of them. She accepted Cuba as some odd punishment and made the most of it.

The quality time with her dad was nice, but she still craved more time with her mom. She acted more like an only child than the middle child because she always craved attention from them, even when she had all their attention.

She was thankful her mom had found some time for one on one time with them that week and she was excited that their security had been able to make arrangements for them to have pedicures together later that day. All she had to do was make it through school today and then her weekend with her mom could start!

She was the first one awake which wasn't extremely odd but usually she had to share her bathroom with Stevie in the morning but Stevie was still fast asleep when Aly started getting ready.

Aly wasn't the only one up early. Henry had left about an hour ago to try and figure out anything about Dmitri who was now in Russia. Elizabeth couldn't fall asleep after he left and it only took being awake for a few minutes for her morning sickness to kick in.

Once she was up and moving for the day, her stomach freshly emptied of any possible contents, she surprisingly had some amount of energy. She made her way downstairs thankful to finally have the ability to sit down, eat breakfast, and enjoy five minutes of her morning before her world went wild again.

She went downstairs and started some coffee, her transition to decaf was finally complete and had somehow come with a switch to black coffee as well. She popped a piece of bread in the toaster and grabbed a vanilla yogurt and some pepper jelly out of the fridge. Her grandmother loved pepper jelly and it always served as such a comforting reminder of her.

Soon her toast was done and she got a spoon out of a drawer before getting a paper towel off the roll and filling out the coffee cup she had gotten out of the cabinet when she started making coffee. Just as she sat down at the table, she looked up to see Aly coming down the stairs.

"Hey noodle!" She told Aly, obviously excited to see her.

"Hey mom!" There was some spark of excitement in her daughters greeting and it made Elizabeth feel like maybe everything would be ok.

The last week was hard. Henry was distracted with not only his students but his dedication to Dmitri and his safety. The action happening in Russia wasn't making anything easier and Aly was still giving them a bit of a cold shoulder about the baby. The only upside was that as Elizabeth was coming in to her second trimester, her energy was returning and she could make it through a day only throwing up a few times.

"You excited for a pedicure date tonight?" Elizabeth asked her.

"Yea! Nothing is going to come up right?" Aly felt that asking would be useless because if something was going to come up, it was going to come up, but her mouth spoke before her brain could stop her.

"Right! I'm going off the grid at 6:00 and Blake is confirming our appointment for 7:30. I was thinking ice cream after, sound good?" Aly nodded as she sat her book bag down. "Want breakfast?" Elizabeth asked, nearly finished with her toast.

"Nah, I'll just grab some yogurt." Aly answered walking towards the fridge and grabbing out a strawberry yogurt before opening a drawer and getting a spoon. Aly soon sat back down next to her mother. "Where's dad?"

"He headed to work a little early." Elizabeth answered, he did, that wasn't a lie.

Before Aly could respond and somewhat thankfully for Elizabeth, Jason came down the stairs and joined his mother and sister.

"Good morning!" Elizabeth happily greeted him.

"Hey." Jason responded, slightly distracted by his backpack and phone.

"Do you want breakfast?" Elizabeth asked her son as she picked up her yogurt carton, paper towel, and dirty spoon.

"I'll get some cereal." He answered heading towards the cabinets and fridge.

Elizabeth took the opportunity to just enjoy this time with her two youngest children. Even though Jason was distracted by his phone and Aly was attempting to finish some homework, she enjoyed this quality time and she wasn't ready to let it go.

Just as her mind was letting her get caught up in her memories, her phone drug her back to reality. She quickly picked it up and answered.

"Hello?"

"Good morning ma'am! I'll be arriving with the motorcade in about 10 minutes. I have confirmed your pedicure appointment for this evening and the team is aware that you will be going off the grid at 6:00PM. Is there anything you would like me to bring?" Blake answered quickly giving her a run down of her day.

Since she had told Blake about the pregnancy he had started to meet her in the morning with her motorcade. It came at her request actually, it provided her with cover, should she need it. She still hadn't told her team, sure Nadine and Blake knew but eventually the entire team would need to know… maybe today was the day.

"No, Blake, I'm good, thanks! See you in 10." She replied before hanging up the phone. "Alright guys, I've gotta go get my shoes, be good, love you both." Elizabeth said to her younger children, giving each of them a kiss on the top of the head before heading up the stairs to put on an uncomfortable pair of shoes that she would suffer in most of the day.

Once in the motorcade with Blake, she finally sought the advice she had been looking for.

"Good morning, Blake!" She greeted him in a cheery manner as the door shut behind her.

"Good morning ma'am!" He replied.

"So, what is on my schedule for lunch today?" He wasn't surprised by the question, just disorganized at the moment.

"Um, looks like you don't have any set plans but you've got a meeting ending at 11:30 and another one at 2:00." He answered slightly caught off guard.

"What do you think about telling the team today?" She asked him.

"I… I think… I support whatever you would like to do." Blake wasn't exactly sure what to say in this moment, he couldn't figure out what she actually wanted to hear.

"Let's order lunch in, I'm already craving dumplings. Let's have lunch delivered at noon and I'll tell everyone then." He was quickly taking notes on what she had requested.

"Yes ma'am." He verbally acknowledged that he heard her.

Once he finished his note for dumplings at noon, they were in the state department garage and headed up to their office.

"Surprise team lunch with takeout from Shanghai Mama's? I'm not going to ask questions." Matt told Daisy as they walked to the conference room. She had thought the request for a team lunch was odd but it seems most of her team wasn't reading into it as much as she was.

"But why? Nothing super crazy going on, nothing super crazy planning on happening, relatively quiet day? Seems odd." Daisy replied. She wasn't sold on the same idea that her co-workers were that this was all spontaneous because their boss wanted dumplings.

Soon the duo were at the conference room where they joined Jay, Blake, and Nadine.

"So nice of you to finally join us!" Nadine joked with them as Jay sat down with his water.

"She's not here?" Daisy looked around expected to see her boss.

Truth was her boss was on the verge of a panic attack. She was curled up in a nervous ball under her desk with the paper bag she had stashed in her desk drawer for emergencies. This wasn't the same kind of panic attack she had experienced before, this was mainly nerves but her heart was still pounding so similarly.

She finally found the strength to join her teammates and it was strength she found quicker than she thought. She walked out of her office and into the conference room taking deep breaths to try to even out her nerves. She was incredibly surprised by how calm she felt when she put her hand on the door knob, turned it, and opened the conference room door.

"Good afternoon everyone!" Elizabeth greeted them.

Her team was already going through the bags and finding the order that belonged to each of them.

"Here you go ma'am." Jay said handing her the take out container of dumplings and another container of rice.

"Thanks." She responded, the nerves kicking back in.

She waited until everyone had the opportunity to get their lunch and find a seat at the table before she began.

"Thanks for lunch, boss!" Nadine said not totally knowing what was coming but at least having an idea.

"Yea no problem guys! Just want to thank you all for all the hard work you've been doing!" She began. She took another second to have a quick but deep breath before she continued. "There's actually something else I need to share with you all…" Now her nerves were fully present to her but there was no going back now. "I know this will come as a shock to all of you and it's just as much of a shock to me but… I'm pregnant."

It felt so good to have it off her chest.

The members of her staff that didn't know were absolutely shocked. She couldn't tell who would speak first or really what any of them were thinking.

"Oh wow! Oh congrats, ma'am!" Daisy broke the silence.

"Congrats, boss!" Matt replied after finishing the bite of food he had temporarily forgotten he had in his mouth.

"Congrats!" Jay added in, equally as shocked as the first two.

"I don't mean to bring up work talk in our lunch but… we need to talk about timelines for statements." Daisy didn't hold back, this was going to be major news when the press discovered it and it would be better if they got the opportunity to make the first statement.

"Yes, I have a couple other people that need to find out and then we can talk timelines." Crap. Conrad still needed to know before the press did. Her brother and in laws should probably find out too.

"Yes ma'am."

Jay hadn't said much because his head was busy drifting back to his own personal life. His own daughter wasn't even a year old and he knew how much that took out of him, he could only imagine what the Secretary would be going through.

While Matt was shocked to learn the news, he didn't say much either – mostly caught up in his lunch. The true scope of this would hit him much later, nothing felt different at the moment for him.

They finished up their lunch with more congratulations, questions about how she was feeling, and what route she would like to take to let the press know. Her afternoon went off seemingly normal and was able to actually go off the grid at 6:00 like she had planned to.

She was happy to see Henry finishing dinner when she walked in the door.

"Hi honey!" She greeted him, wrapping her arms around him from behind as he stood over the stove.

"Hi babe!" He turned around to kiss her, careful to avoid burning his hands on the hot stove.

"So I told my staff today." She was just getting that out there, it felt nice to have someone she could actually talk about the feelings of telling her staff with.

"And?" This had really peaked his interest.

"They took it… well… I guess!" She really didn't know how else to describe them taking it. There was clearly shock on all of their faces but no one really reacted negatively.

"That's good babe!" He gave her another kiss on the cheek and turned his attention back to dinner.

Henry finished dinner and the family gathered around the table. Aly spoke about how excited she was for their pedicures and Stevie expressed, once again, how jealous she was that she wasn't able to go.

Elizabeth changed into something a little bit more comfortable after dinner, being in her clothes any longer seemed like torture. She found one of the only pair of jeans that still comfortably fit her, a loose fitting sweater to hide her teeny tiny bump. She figured she had another month before she needed to really start looking into a maternity wardrobe and she was not looking forward to that.

Once she was dressed, she and Aly made their way to the nail salon. They talked about the articles Aly was working on and what direction she wanted to take her writing.

They were so thankful for the salon and it's ability to get them in to a late appointment and allow them to avoid some of the regular crowds. They were quickly checked in and sat at two pedicure chairs next to each other. Just as their pedicures started, Elizabeth received a call.

"Hi Daisy, what is it?"

"I'm so incredibly sorry to bother you ma'am but we have a situation." Daisy told her, obviously nervous, on the other end.

"What's going on?" Elizabeth shifted slightly away from her daughter.

"I've got the National Enquirer reaching out to me… they know about your pregnancy."

"What? How?" Elizabeth had kept her circle so tight she could count the people who knew on one hand.

"They said they have a source close to you." Daisy told her, also racking her brain as to who could have said something.

"Are they threatening to run something?" Maybe they could get away with no comment.

"Yes, they apparently have audio of this person confirming." Daisy wasn't sure if she wanted to tell her that, she knew who confirmed it.

"Who is it?" Elizabeth's heart was beating out of her check.

"Jason."

"Mom… I thought you were going to be off the grid!" Aly pressured her mother to hang up the phone.

"I am, one second hun, sorry!" Elizabeth didn't care to make Daisy wait for a response, she had promised this time to Aly. "How?" Elizabeth asked Daisy.

"Something about Xbox and mics." Daisy told her. "The audio has Jason saying you're pregnant."

"Ok, let's see if we can get them to drop the audio." Maybe getting them to run the article wouldn't be bad – it would seem like their usual 'too wild to be true' kind of story.

"Yes ma'am, I'll call you as soon as I have an update." Daisy told her boss before hanging up the phone.

Elizabeth put her phone face down on the small tray attached to her chair.

"What was that all about?" Aly asked, slightly annoyed.

"Just some tabloids wanting to run some crazy story." Elizabeth told her. "But no need to worry about it now! It's handled."

She hoped it was handled but she knew they would be telling a lot of people about the baby very soon.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews! I hope you like this one as well! I did have to rewrite this episode a bit and that's why I didn't give many details on the exact points in it. My pregnancy research is about to pay off though so I hope you all are excited for that!**

**The Next Day**

Whether Elizabeth was ready to or not, the world was likely going to find out about her pregnancy soon and it meant those important in her little world would have to find out too. She was nervous to tell the kids and her staff but Conrad and Russell were now the root of her nerves.

For some reason, her mind had constantly been wandering to the meaning of colors. Red showed passion, orange showed courage, and green showed fertility. Those thoughts ran through her head all morning, especially when choosing to wear a dark green blouse today. She chose it partially because it hid her very tiny baby bump better than half of her wardrobe and secondly because of the meaning of the color. She chose a pair of dark gray pants and the only semi comfortable pair of black pumps she owned.

She wasn't ready to enter his office and tell him what was going on in her life, especially that it would likely be made public in the next 48 hours. There was so much going on in the actual world that the world being made aware of her pregnancy seems like it would complicate things too much.

There wasn't time to think about that now. Her motorcade had arrived at the White House and her door was opening. She took as much time as she could without looking suspicious, to get out of the car. She really wasn't looking forward to this conversation.

She walked down the halls, managing to look as normal as possible. Soon the doors to the oval office were in front of her and the president's secretary was opening it.

"Good morning, Bess!" President Dalton said acknowledging her presence.

"Good morning, Conrad. Russell." She replied with a quick head nod to both of them before taking a seat on the couch across from them.

"So, you wanted to discuss the details of our trip?" Conrad was already a little surprised by her meeting. He knew this wouldn't be about the trip.

"Yes and no. It's more of a thing that could affect our trip." This had their attention. "The National Enquirer is threatening to run a story about my personal life…"

"It's the National Enquirer, I don't think we…" Conrad began.

"It's true." She cut him off.

"Is everything ok?" Russell knew whatever it was couldn't be good. The National Enquirer running a true story? Something was seriously wrong.

"I'm pregnant." She told them while fumbling with her hands and doing her best to maintain a fair amount of eye contact with each of them.

The silence was deafening. She watched their faces turn from concern to anger and then back to concern.

"Oh wow, congratulations are in order I guess." Conrad said nearly monotone.

"Have you thought about how this is going to play out on an international stage?" There was Russell, always worried about how a situation would look.

"I have." She didn't want to elaborate on the fact that she knew her foreign counterparts would very easily dismiss her because of her pregnancy, that they would for some reason see her as weak or fragile simply because of that.

"And you know it isn't good! Plus you'll have a maternity leave and time off and we're supposed to expect that the rest of the world won't take advantage of any of that?" Russell was nearly yelling at this point.

"Russell, cut it." Conrad hit back at him.

Conrad could see the tears swelling in Elizabeth's eyes as her head dropped and the life fell from her eyes.

"We'll figure this out. We don't need anything to over shine our visit, does Daisy have any suggestions to keep them from running the story?" Conrad continued, pulling her back to the present.

"We're working on it, she bought us 48 hours last night… I'm not sure we can get much more." Elizabeth answered.

"How… how did they find out about this?" Russell spit back at her.

"It was just a lapse in judgement by someone close to me." She didn't want to go into the details and didn't feel they were necessary. She gave them the truth, even if it wasn't the whole, most detailed truth.

"Let's see if we can get some more time and figure out a formal announcement after our trip." Conrad was over Russell's attitude. "I think that's enough for today, congrats again, Bess!"

"Thank you, Mr. President."

She was so happy to be out of the oval office. While she felt like she could somehow breath again, she also felt like a hundred pound weight was on her chest.

She had never been so thankful for her team. How they somehow managed to convince the National Enquirer that the recording wasn't actually her son when it very clearly was, was truly commendable.

What would also be commendable was getting the talks in Geneva to go smoothly. She had hope but she also knew reality would lead her to believe they wouldn't.

And they didn't.

They didn't go well with Ostrova, they didn't go well with Henry. Just as she and Conrad were catching up in the courtyard, a explosion from behind them took them by complete surprise. They were quickly secured and hustled into a limousine.

"Elizabeth are you ok?" Conrad asked with a look and sound of concern that she had only heard from him once before.

"Yea, just reeling still." She answered.

"Any pain?"

"Just a headache but it's starting to pass a bit." She admired and appreciated his concern. "I've got to get in touch with Henry."

She pulled out her phone and immediately tried to reach him with no luck. She knew he was trying his best to save his student but she was continuing to see how impossible that might become.

Their driver immediately took them to a hospital, mainly for protocol. They were able to conduct some meetings there and finally Elizabeth was able to reach Henry.

He wasn't happy but he was ok. She told him they were going wheels up soon. She didn't really ask him to come home so much as declared that they needed to be going but he didn't listen. He was staying behind for Dmitri, he would see her on the other side of the world when his work there was done.

She wasn't happy to leave him behind but she understood why he was.

Back on the plane, she was happy to get some amount of rest. She was also happy to see Blake.

"Hey there big guy." She greeted him after coming out of her suite on the plane having changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"Oh hi ma'am, how are you feeling? Are you ok?" He was incredibly worried about her. He didn't know much about being near explosions during pregnancy but he figured it couldn't be good.

"Not exactly, I need you to do me a favor." She asked.

"Yes no problem, what can I do for you?" He was nervous, why did she need to start that sentence with 'not exactly.'

"Have you ever tracked contractions?" Now he was really worried.

"No but ma'am if you're having contractions, we need to get someone…" He was incredibly worried for her and his worry was showing in his demeanor.

"I think these are Braxton Hick's contractions… but I'm going to need to track them to be sure. I also need you to not worry about it, got it?" She asked.

"Yes ma'am, what do you need me to do?"

"Every time I tell you I'm having one, write down the time and whatever I rate it on a scale of one to ten. If it is just practice, they won't get closer together and they'll get easier." She was breathing through one as she instructed him on what to do. She took a deep breath, "go ahead and mark one, that one was only about a four though… definitely easier than the last one."

"Yes ma'am, can I get you anything? Do you need anything else?" He was nervous but he was being strong for her.

"Yes, a nap." She told him with a smile before returning to her suite. "Oh and some water. Pregnancy makes you so thirsty."

"Absolutely." He answered rushing off to get her some water.

She was so thankful for him, even if he had no idea what he was in for.

Thankfully her contractions had become incredibly far apart as their flight home went on, so did Blake's nerves and worry that something major was going to happen to her.

Once they made it back to their motorcade safely, he had to break the ice.

"You had me very scared there for a bit, ma'am."

She let out a smirky smile. "If you think that was bad, wait until they're real!"

"I don't know if I'll be able to handle them if they're real!" Blake told her very seriously but the smirk she had earlier remained on her face.

"Ahhh come on kid! You'll be fine!" She playfully reassured him.

There was a pause on his end. "Were you nervous, ma'am?" His question was somber.

"On the plane? Not really. Sure it had been a while since I had one but something about those didn't feel like the real thing. I had Braxton Hicks with all my pregnancies, after the first one, they aren't scary!"

"Are you scared?" He couldn't believe that he had the courage to have this serious and personal of a conversation with her but after the events of today, he realized how much he truly cared about her.

"To have another baby? Absolutely. That's never not scary!" She was honest with him, she was scared. She was excited, but damn was she nervous.

Before he could respond, her motorcade had arrived at her home and one of the members of her detail opened her door.

"Good talk, thanks for today!" She told him getting out the car.

"Ma'am," he had her attention "if you need anything, I'm here for you."

"Thanks, Blake! Have a good night."

As she made her way into the house, all she could think about was how bad she wanted a glass of wine. Typically after long and stressful days, she could justify a glass of wine but with her current condition, a glass of wine wouldn't be ethically or morally possible.

As she sat her handbag on the entry way table, she was surprised to see a living room light still on. It was very late and still a weekend and she expected all the kids to be in bed.

She walked towards the light and soon saw the headful of strawberry blond hair resting on the arm of the couch as Stevie lay fast asleep. Elizabeth wanted to wake her up and tell her to go to bed, she also wanted to let her sleep, and finally, she wanted to wake her up and talk about Stevie's day.

Before she could make a decision, Stevie began to stir and quickly opened her eyes to see her mother.

"Mom?" She questioned sleepily.

"Hey baby, go upstairs and go to bed." Elizabeth told her while sitting on the small space left unoccupied at the end of the couch.

"How was your day?" Elizabeth was slightly caught off guard by the question. Not that she thought Stevie didn't care, but that Stevie had fallen asleep waiting up for her.

"It was a day. I think the score is Me – 0, life – 4." Elizabeth answered with a slight smile.

"That bad?" Stevie responded coming out of her sleep and back to reality.

"Just a lot." Elizabeth answered.

"Where's dad?" Stevie had finally recognized the elephant in the room, that her father didn't return from this trip with her mother.

"He had to stay in Geneva for a bit." She didn't necessarily want to give her the details but wanted to talk to someone.

"Is everything ok?" This was Stevie panicking, this was Stevie genuinely concerned about her parents.

"Yea, just some work stuff." While that probably wasn't the answer Stevie was looking for, she saw the answer between the lines.

"Are you ok?" Stevie asked not wanting to get into the details about her father.

Elizabeth thought about how to wanted to answer. Did she say the truth that she was ok, kiss Stevie goodnight and retreat to her bathroom and handle this stress like she handled most stress when she didn't have anyone to talk to – an hours long soak in her tub while allowing her emotions to fully come to the surface and tears to stream down her face? Or did she say she wasn't and share her deepest emotions with her daughter?

"Yea!" She said fake enough that it prompted Stevie to ask again.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

Elizabeth exhaled deeply before giving her daughter the honest answer she was looking for. "Not totally."

"So let's talk about it!" Stevie eagerly tried to convince her mother, she was there to listen. She may not be able to fully understand simply because she had never been there, but she wanted to support her mother through thick and thin.

"No sweetie, it's ok, let's go to bed." Elizabeth felt she had done her part by admitting she wasn't ok.

Stevie got up from the couch but instead of taking a turn towards the stairs, took a turn towards the kitchen. Elizabeth could hear her get something out the cabinets and open the fridge before coming back to the living room. Stevie emerged with a bottle of wine that had easily been opened months ago, a bottle of grape juice, and two wine glasses.

"Alright, so let's talk." Stevie said sitting her items on the coffee table.

Elizabeth told her about her day, how Henry was conflicted with everything now happening with Dmitri, about her experience on the plane, and about how all of this happening now reminded her of how scary her future was going to be.

As she spoke, Stevie poured herself a glass of wine and a glass of grape juice for Elizabeth. Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at how effortlessly Stevie has resorted to a glass of wine on a stressful day, especially since she wasn't 21, but she picked her battles and appreciated her daughters thoughts.

While tears slowly streamed down her face as she was brought back to the harsh reality she was facing, she had never been so thankful for her oldest daughter.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! There's a little bit more fluff coming before the big action but I promise it's coming! I'm also going a bit off the episodes starting here so here comes my unbearable work writing lol**

**13 ½ Weeks**

Another day, another appointment – at least that's how it seemed. After her conversation with Stevie and an unexpected conversation with Blake, she decided to let her doctor know about her Braxton-Hicks contractions. Dr. Moore felt it was important to start more regular appointments, even though every three weeks was already very frequently.

Luckily, Dr. Moore was now doing house calls. There wasn't anything that really needed a full office, a quick check of her blood pressure and review of any changes was all more than capable of being conducted at home.

Dr. Moore arrived on time, at 8:45, just as expected. The kids had already left for school, her first meeting was at 9:30 and Henry had managed to get part of the morning off for the second time in two weeks – which had really started to raise eyebrows from his coworkers. Thankfully, Conrad and Russell were providing some cover.

As her detail left Dr. Moore in, Elizabeth left her spot looking out the kitchen window to greet her.

"Good morning, Dr. Moore!" She greeted her, holding out a hand to initiate a handshake.

"Good morning, Elizabeth." They had finally gotten on a first name basis. "How are you feeling today?"

"Pretty good. Morning sickness is all but gone, still tired but not as bad as I was. All around feeling a lot better!" Elizabeth answered.

As Elizabeth was answering they made their way to the office next to the front door and Elizabeth took a seat at one of the chairs while Dr. Moore retrieved the blood pressure cuff from her bag.

"That's good! Left arm please." Dr. Moore instructed her.

Elizabeth gave her Dr. Moore her left arm and Dr. Moore wrapped the blood pressure cuff around it. She pumped the small air socket filling up the cuff.

Elizabeth remained silent as Dr. Moore finished reading her blood pressure.

"Still 130 over 85 still and a little high but nothing too crazy." Dr. Moore began putting her items back in her bag. "Have you thought about an amniocentesis?"

"I haven't really, do you think I should?" Her doctor had covered it with all of her pregnancies but never really suggested one.

"It's up to you. It will give you an idea of some genetic abnormalities you could be facing but it does come with it's risks as well. I would recommend it simply because of your age, just to ease your mind or help you prepare. You don't need to decide right away but if you choose to have it done, we'll probably need to do it in the next month or so."

Genetic abnormalities. Two words that she hadn't thought of since she found out she was pregnant but ones that needed to be at the forefront of her mind. With higher maternal age did come higher risks for many risks, ones that might need preparation now.

"Actually, yea, let's schedule that." Her mind was made up, she wanted to know that everything was actually ok.

"I'll have Jess give you a call when I get back to the office! Do Tuesdays still work best for you?" Dr. Moore asked. "You will probably need to take the entire day off to rest after and you shouldn't do any strenuous exercise for two to three days."

"Yea no problem." It would probably be a slight problem but not one that couldn't be solved.

"Great!" Dr. Moore replied. "As always, great to see you! See you in a couple of weeks."

Dr. Moore put her cut on and left as Elizabeth walked with her to the door. After Dr. Moore left, Elizabeth went back to the kitchen to grab her coffee and headed out the door to join Blake in her motorcade.

"Good morning, Blake!" She greeted him climbing into the SUV.

"Good morning ma'am." There was a slight stress and nervousness in his voice. "I knew not to interrupt you but we have an issue with the Mexican government."

"Oh great, what now?" She said with an eye roll.

"Apparently a group of US students on a recreational trip were kidnapped by the Gulf Cartel while touring the Mayan ruins. The cartel is demanding US payment for the hostages." He was hoping this situation wouldn't blow into something bigger but he had a feeling he would be making a business trip to Mexico soon.

"So what are they asking?" Elizabeth asked.

"They want five million US dollars…" He began.

"Just five million?" She cut him off.

"No… They want President Lopez to resign." Blake finished.

"That…"

"That doesn't seem like the cartels at all, I know, apparently the Gulf Cartel is under a new leader who's got a variety of connections to a newly emerging far right party." Blake told her.

"Ok, get Ambassador Flores in my office as soon as we can. I want the staff working to get me as much information about this new party as possible." Elizabeth rattled off commands, ready to get this work done and bring the US students home.

"Yes ma'am." He replied as her door to the motorcade was opened and she stepped out.

They boarded the elevator and he hit the button for the seventh floor. Once the door was shut, she knew she was safe to talk.

"Can you get me as much of my schedule for the next four weeks as you can? I'm going to need a day off in the next couple of weeks." She asked Blake. She knew her wouldn't be able to get a fully set schedule but at least any major events that she couldn't move without raising eyebrows.

"Yes ma'am." He was hesitant to ask anymore but he was truly starting to see Elizabeth as someone he wanted to protect in the most innocent and friendly way possible. "Is everything ok?"

"Yea, just a doctors appointment."

With the end of that answer, the elevator dinged indicating they had arrived at their destination. As the door opened she saw all of her staff standing there, ready to ambush her as they normally did when there was a major incident.

"Good morning everyone!" She said happily hoping to break their straight faces.

"Good morning ma'am, I'm sure Blake as briefed you on the situation in Mexico." Nadine responded to her cheery greeting with an equally straight face as before.

"Yes he has, I'd like Ambassador Flores here as soon as possible. What do we know about those involved? The students, the cartel, this new party?" Elizabeth needed as much information as possible.

"Students are a group of juniors and seniors from the University of Kentucky. The Gulf Cartel has a new leader a Carlos Fernandez Ruiz, there's no word on their previous leader or Mr. Ruiz came into power in the group, it all seems pretty sudden. This new party has been on our radar for a few months, protests here and there but nothing crazy." Nadine knew exactly what Elizabeth would ask and was prepared with as many answers as possible.

"President Dalton has already approved the five million in ransom but obviously our hands are tied when it comes to forcing a foreign leader to resign." Jay added in as the group walked into her office.

"So what other options have we considered offering them?" She was really just trying to see how much her team knew.

She sat her handbag down and sat in her chair. She thought her energy was finally returning but days like this proved it hadn't.

"We've offered double the ransom money they asked for, they weren't interested in the money at all. Seems like the money might have just been to draw us in." Jay informed her.

"Have we thought about pulling in other governments?" Elizabeth asked.

"We have, we're working with Brazil, Colombia, and Peru to get any sort of assistant. Chile is out." Nadine added.

"Colombia has special interest in the Cancun area," Jay began. "We also have reason to believe the students were attempting to smuggle in drugs back to the US from Colombia."

"I'm taking it this far right group has special interest in cutting off any sort of diplomatic ties to Colombia? That would mean the students meeting with the Colombian cartel and doing their business in Gulf Cartel territory would piss them off enough to want their party in power and end their competition with tourists in Cancun?" Elizabeth asking mainly clarifying her thoughts.

"Yes, it would appear that way." Nadine answered.

"So let's get Ambassador Jimenez in here with Ambassador Flores. They both need to know the United States is happy to provide the ransom for the safe return of our citizens but there's nothing we can do with a foreign leader. This is their problem, we're just caught up in it." With that Nadine and Jay shook their heads and walked away.

"Would you like me to prepare a statement, ma'am?" Matt asked.

"How much of this has leaked?" She wanted her office to keep a low profile for a variety of reasons and didn't want to make a statement unless it was absolutely necessary.

"US media hasn't ran anything yet but with it being US college students in a popular tourist destination for US citizens, we're bound to have news out soon." Daisy informed her.

"Ok, let's get a brief statement out, we've been made aware of the issue, we are doing our best to ensure the safe return of our citizens." Elizabeth instructed Matt.

"Ma'am, there's another statement we may need to make." Daisy told her. This was something Daisy and Matt had discussed earlier and Matt had been working on a formal statement for Elizabeth since she told them she was pregnant. "We were able to keep the National Enquirer off your pregnancy but we may not be for long. It's probably better that we announce before we run into another National Enquirer issue."

"I know. I would appreciate if we could hold off two more weeks." Even though she was in a safe point in her pregnancy to announce, she wanted to wait until after her amniocentesis results were back.

"I will do everything I can but I don't know if I can." Daisy told her sympathetically. She understood her desire to wait as long as she could but she also knew that probably wouldn't happen.

"I've prepared a statement for you, in the event you'd like to announce at any point." Matt told her handing her a piece of paper with a brief statement on it.

_Secretary McCord and the McCord family are very excited to announce the Secretary's pregnancy. There will be no changes to the state department and the McCord family asks for your privacy at this time._

Short, sweet, and to the point. Elizabeth appreciated that they didn't give a ton of details, the last thing she wanted was the press knowing all of her personal business. She knew there would be press no matter what, she was expecting paparazzi and a closer detail once it was announced but she didn't want to ever get to that point.

Just ask she was debating when might be the best time to make the announcement, her personal cell phone rang.

"One second guys." She told Daisy and Matt picking up her phone.

"Hello?" She answered. "Yes, I think Tuesday is still the best. I can do next Tuesday. Ok great."

"Ok, right now, plan on announcing next Wednesday." She told the remaining members of her team.

"Yes ma'am." Daisy responded and Matt nodded before heading out the door.

Whether she wanted to or not, the world would soon know her little secret.

Later that evening she was happy to have a few moments in bed with Henry before she felt her eyes closing.

"So I need you to clear your schedule next Tuesday." She started off the conversation as they laid in bed, Henry reading a book and her trying to focus on a briefing.

"What's up?" He asked not looking up from his book.

"I'm having an amniocentesis." She told him shifting her body to her right side to look at him.

He finally put his book down and looked over to her. "Oh? Had we talked about that?"

"No, I made the decision." She made a decision that was ultimately all her. "There are risks, yes, but I feel like this time it's necessary."

"Would it change anything?" For Henry it didn't matter but he understood anything the amniocentesis would reveal would directly affect her in a much different way.

"It would change things in the end. We'd need more support, we'd need all kinds of training, we might need a ton of things that we should start preparing for now." Since her doctor suggested it this morning, she had thought of every possible thing that could go wrong.

"Ok." Henry responded reaching out to stroke her arm. He could tell she was stressed and would be about it.

"I'm also having my team make the announcement."

"When?" Henry asked.

"Next Wednesday." There was even more stress in her face.

"Ok, whatever you want, I've got you." He told her.

"Even if I want a Big Mac?" She said with a sweet smile in hopes he would be unable to resist and cave in to getting her a Big Mac since was so stressed about everything going on.

"That bad?" He asked with a half giggle.

"Terribly." She said, matching his giggle.

"Are you going to be awake if I get it?" He could tell she was tired.

She could feel how heavy her eyelids had gotten. She shook her head 'no.' He gave her smile and protective kiss on the forehead before she drifted off to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I'm so sorry if you found my work writing cringey, I'm working on it!**

**14 Weeks**

She hated traveling for work while pregnant. It wasn't so much that she was worried something major would happen, she just hated not knowing what would happen with her own body. Would the skirt that fit today fit tomorrow? Would the shirt that showed no trace of a bump suddenly show her barely there bump? Would her suitcase feel too heavy or would they have foods she could eat? So many unanswered, silly questions.

As Henry zipped her suitcase and picked it up off the bench at the end of their bed, he began to share in her worrying. His worrying however, was much more about her and how she felt. Would everything be ok? Would she have the medical care she needed if she needed any? He didn't want her to go, but he understood.

"Thank you babe." She said giving him a quick kiss.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in closer for one more moment alone with her.

"Anytime." He whispered in response.

She laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around him. While she had finally started to feel more like herself, her anxiety had somehow gotten worse the closer they got to the amniocentesis. He gently rubbed her back.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to." He thought maybe he could convince her to stay.

"Yes I do." She responded looking up at him and moving closer to her suitcase.

"I know." He knew she couldn't, but he could always hope. "You have time for breakfast if you want."

"I was hoping for glazed donuts. Do we have time?" She asked grabbing the handle of her suitcase.

"Maybe if we hop in the car now we can convince the boys to stop at Dunkin Donuts on the way." The statement brought a smile to her face.

"Ok, good enough for me, let's go!" As she finished speaking, he took the suitcase out of her hand and carried it down the stairs. The kids weren't up yet – it was a Saturday after all and they would have her coffee on the plane.

They got into the SUV and were pleasantly surprised when her detail agreed to a quick drive thru run. Drive thru trips weren't common in the motorcade and it was more something Jason thought was hilarious and made him look much more important than he was, but sometimes, like today, it was necessary.

They pulled up the speaker and quickly ordered three glazed donuts and two decaf coffees. As they pulled up to the window, the cashier working the window was starstruck to see the Secretary of State in her drive thru but that would be something Elizabeth and Henry would eventually have to get used to.

The rest of their trip to the airport went off without a hitch and she kissed Henry goodbye before boarding the plane.

Once aboard, the work with her staff began. There was consistent talk of their plans for the next two days in Mexico and tying up some loose ends for the day she would be off next week.

The staff watched Daisy look at her phone and watch her face turn from neutral to concern. "Ma'am, we have an issue."

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked.

"TMZ is running a story… announcing your pregnancy." Daisy told the staff.

"What?" Elizabeth asked extremely concerned.

Daisy passed her phone over to the secretary for her to see for herself. There, in big bold black letters was the headline 'Secretary McCord Pregnant – Expecting Fourth Child.'

"How?" Elizabeth asked obviously upset that TMZ had gotten all the details of her pregnancy.

The article knew everything. The secret doctors appointments, exactly how far along she was, even that she would be out of the office on Tuesday for what they called a 'routine appointment.'

"I have no idea ma'am… I'm so sorry." Daisy replied.

Before anyone else could say anything, Elizabeth's cell was ringing.

"Hey!" She answered, trying to sound surprised, excited, and not nervous as she spoke with Henry.

"Are you sitting down?" He asked on the other line.

"I just saw." She told him knowing exactly what he was about to say.

"I thought we were realizing it next week?!"

"We were! I have no idea how this got out." She responded.

"How did they know everything?" Henry asked.

"I have no idea." She answered. "I know this throws a wrench in things, lay low today and I'll get home as soon as I can."

"Babe, do what you need to do. You don't have to say anything until you're ready, plus being in Mexico gives you a cover." He was right, the press wouldn't be as bad in Mexico.

"I know. I gotta go, I love you." She told him.

"I love you."

They soon hung up.

"Ma'am, we will get to the bottom of this." Daisy nervously told her boss.

"Yes, we will." Elizabeth said turning her attention back to her team.

Her trip in Mexico was thankfully event and crisis free, ending in quick negotiations with luxury accommodations. She had to admit, she slept better in the hotel than she had slept for nearly a week and it was incredibly surprisingly that she slept at all considering how nervous she was to return home and be bombarded by press.

She hadn't spoken to Henry much on the trip but he said the kids were doing ok. He had a date night in planned for them tonight ending in a much needed bubble bath and watching Dirty Dancing until Elizabeth fell asleep 15 minutes in.

The flight had seemed like not only the longest flight of her life but the shortest one too. Daisy had confirmed that they would be able to get to her home without any press and advised her to not answer questions and just keep working.

The sounds of wheels hitting the runway pulled her out of her thoughts and into reality.

"All ready ma'am?" Blake looked at her and asked.

"As I'll ever be." She responded. She wasn't ready but that didn't matter.

She took her seatbelt off and headed to the front of the plane. As Daisy promised, there was no press waiting at the airport. She walked down the stairs to the end of the plane and in to the waiting SUV.

Taking a deep breath, she laid her head rest on the headrest and tried to come to her best head space to get through the next 10 minutes. She knew she could have morning sickness at any point but she was surprised to be experiencing it now. She knew it was just nerves but she hoped steady breathing could keep it off long enough for her to make it inside.

Hot. She was so hot. This always happened when she was sick to her stomach. She untied the belt around her coat and looked down at her barely there bump. It was amazing how something so little could cause so much emotion.

On one hand, she was nervous for today. On the other, she was much more nervous for the next few days. The amniocentesis was tomorrow, she would have her results on Wednesday, and they would have Thursday night all to themselves to decide on major things for the future.

"We're here ma'am." One of her detail members in the front of the SUV told her.

"Thank you." She responded as one of them got out of the car to open her door.

Soon the door was open and she could see her own front door just steps away from her. She didn't expect the wind and forgot she had untied her trench coat leading photographers to capture a photo of her teeny tiny bump framed perfectly by her chiffon blouse as the wind push against her. The photo they just got occurred to her as she looked down to turn her own doorknob.

No going back now. The world knew, she was pregnant.

She quickly shut the door behind her and got in the house as fast as she could. Henry was very excited to see her.

"Hey babe!" He exclaimed rushing up to scoop her in his arms.

"Henry they know." She whispered into his chest, starting to cry.

"I know, it's ok babe. We still don't have to say anything." He was trying to ease any of her fears.

"No, they know." She said motioning her head down towards her stomach.

Henry was incredibly confused until Elizabeth put his hand over her little bump. He could hardly feel the tiny movement but it had a huge impact on him as well. They had just felt their baby move.

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes and was met with the same from his. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." He told her with so much love filling in his heart. "I think this makes the score Life – 3, McCords – infinity, right?"

She let out a slight giggle. "Right!"


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed my cute moment! I'm hoping to eventually have more a little more drama in the future but for now some cuteness!**

**The Next Day**

Henry slightly opened the curtains blocking the sunlight from entering their bedroom. The newfound light started to pull Elizabeth out of her sleep and pulled her focus to Henry.

The noise from the slight movement of the pillows pulled his attention from the curtains to her. "Good morning babe." He looked back at her and smiled.

"Morning." She wasn't a morning person and pregnancy didn't help that.

As her vision scanned around the room and she pulled herself up to a sitting position, she noticed the tray of waffles and orange juice on the chaise.

"For me?" She asked obviously excited.

He hurried over to the corner of the room and picked up the tray of food. "Yes it is!" He brought her breakfast over to her and sat down next to her. "Figured it would be a nice start to the day."

"It is, thank you babe." She replied giving him a quick kiss.

"So, your appointment is at 9:30, I'm having lunch delivered once we get home, I've got a full season of The Crown ready to watch tonight and Stevie is taking Aly and Jason to Dave and Busters for dinner right after they get home so you can relax in bed all night." He made sure to clean her schedule from everything so she could actually relax and rest like he knew she needed to do.

"Damn how did I get so lucky?" She asked somewhat rhetorically.

"Hmmm… I heard you had some good karma coming your way 20 something years ago." He jokingly replied.

"That must have been it."

She finished her waffle must faster than Henry must have anticipated because he came out of the bathroom surprised that she was done and had began picking out clothes for the day.

"Already finished?" He asked.

"Yea, I was starving!" She answered before changing out of her pajamas and beginning to put on the shirt she had picked out for the day. She soon moved on to her jeans but was disappointed to discover that they didn't fit the same as before. Standing in front of him, with her jeans failing to button, she asked "Do I really already need to wear maternity jeans?"

He couldn't help but giggle. He wouldn't full on laugh because he knew she was not only stressed and nervous but insecure in her own body at the moment. "Whatever you need is perfectly fine with me!" He told her.

"I need maternity jeans." She let out with a whine.

"What about your sad leggings?" Henry really was trying to help her find another option.

"I can't wear leggings with this shirt!" Here were her pregnancy hormones making an appearance as tears started to fill her eyes.

"So what about another shirt? What about that striped tunic you love?" He walked back into the closet to pull out the black and white top.

"I can't wear horizontal stripes, it'll make me look fatter!" She told him, still upset that she needed maternity jeans.

"What about…" Henry began hoping to pull something out of her closet that would work. "This one?" He asked holding up a pink pullover sweater.

"No that looks sloppy on me." She responded.

"What about this?" Henry asked again now holding up a white cable knit sweater.

"That one already made my boobs look abnormally huge." She was still whining and unhappy with her current clothing situation.

"What about this top and that fitted blazer you love?" He came out of the closet once again holding a white cotton top and one of her favorite blazers.

She was ready to object but honestly, it was probably her best option right now. "Ok." She agreed, not overly happy but willing to compromise.

She walked over to him and took the top and jacket out of his hands and put them on.

"Maternity shopping isn't going to be as easy as it used to be." She was really just thinking out loud. "Oh god, I'm going to need a maternity stylist now."

"That's ok." He pulled her close and kissed her forehead. "We've got about half an hour." He then left their bedroom and headed downstairs to the kitchen.

As Elizabeth finished doing her hair and was just about to put on makeup as she felt the tears creeping into her eyes again. She just wanted to make it through today and for everything to be ok. She was incredibly thankful for a day to just lay in bed with her husband but she was incredibly scared of what tomorrow could bring.

She pulled herself together long enough to finish her makeup, head downstairs, and say goodbye to the kids just before they left for school.

"You ready?" Henry asked her just asked the kids left.

"As I'll ever be, I guess." Elizabeth answered.

"Let's go babe." He took her hand and give it a slight squeeze before her eyes met his smile.

Her motorcade was out front which was enough of a distraction for the press to keep them away from the garage on the side of their house. They chose to forego the motorcade today and just keep things low key, a reminder to them that this was their battle to fight as a family.

Elizabeth got into the passenger side of the SUV as Henry opened the door for the drivers side. Her hand found his as soon as he put it on the gear shift to back out of the garage.

"It's gonna be ok." He told her with a smile before he began to move the car.

She nodded nervously in response.

He began to dig around in his pocket as he watched behind him and steered the wheel with one hand. She hated when he would text and drive but he would be putting his phone down soon. He kept his phone on his left side so she couldn't see him putting one of her favorite songs on the Bluetooth.

As the familiar song came through the speakers, a smile came to her face and her attention went once again to Henry who was now safely driving straight towards Dr. Moore's office. He matched her smile with his own.

"Thank you." She told him softly.

He brought her hand up to meet his lips and gave it a soft kiss. "Anytime." He responded.

Most of their ride and their wait was silent. He knew she was nervous and didn't really feel like talking as a million and one thoughts raced through her head. Soon she was on the exam table with an ultrasound machine next to her and ever more nerves present than she could have imagined.

Finally a knock at the door broke her thoughts. "Come in." She responded unconsciously.

"Good morning, Elizabeth! How are you feeling today?" Dr. Moore asked her like she usually did to kick off their appointments.

"Nervous!" She tried to respond with a smile but she imagined how uncomfortable it actually made her look.

"Nothing to be nervous about! Any concerns?" The doctor asked her.

She slowly shook her head 'no' as she looked at Henry to see if he had anything to say. He matched her slow and nervous motion.

"Ok great! Go ahead and lay back and lift your shirt up. Melissa is my ultrasound tech, she's going to locate the baby and then I'll sanitize the site and take a quick sample. Should only be about five minutes or so and then I'll probably keep you here for observation for about half an hour and then you'll be free to go!"

Elizabeth and Henry hadn't even noticed Melissa enter the room with Dr. Moore and their usual nurse Jess but she quickly put the cold gel on Elizabeth's stomach and began her ultrasound. Melissa quickly found their baby and Dr. Moore began to sanitize that part of Elizabeth's stomach in order to gather the sample of amniotic fluid she needed.

"Ok, just lie extremely still for the next 10 or so seconds." As Dr. Moore finished with her instructions for Elizabeth, she stuck the needle in her stomach and soon had the sample she needed. "All done!" She told Elizabeth with a smile.

Melissa gave her a couple of paper towels to wipe the gel off her stomach and Dr. Moore and Jess were taking notes and labeling the sample.

"It was great to meet you Madam Secretary!" Melissa said just before she left the room, closing the door before Elizabeth could respond.

"Ok, everything seems good so far! Just hang out here, like you are, and Jess will be back in about half an hour with any post appointment paperwork." Dr. Moore instructed. "Any questions?"

"Nope, I think we're all good!" Elizabeth responded with a still very nervous smile.

"Great! I should have the results back by tomorrow afternoon, I'm putting a rush on them and hopefully the lab won't be too backed up. Just be waiting for my call!" She told the couple before she left their room with Jess closely behind.

Once the door was closed, Henry felt it was his time to speak. He moved the chair closer to her and reached out to grab her hand. "You ok?" He asked her.

The tears started to fall as she shook her head 'no.' He continued to stroke her hand lightly brought it to his lips to give it yet another kiss. "It's ok." He told her.

There were a couple of moments of silence as Elizabeth pulled herself together.

"What about the name Margaret?" She broke the silence, much to his surprise.

"I think it's fine, a little old fashioned, also the patron saint of expectant mothers." Henry answered with a smile.

"Yea, I couldn't sleep last night and started looking at names and saw that." Elizabeth told him.

"What about for a boy?" Henry asked. "What about…"

"Aidan Wells." She cut him off, she decided very quickly what her boy name choice was and wasn't really willing to compromise.

"That was quick." He responded obviously surprised at how sure she was of her boy name.

"I kept Aidan inside when I was pregnant with Jason because I figured you wouldn't be a fan of Aidan Adam but I looked up the meaning again last night and it was too fitting." Elizabeth told him.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Little fire." She responded. "Fitting… I think."

"Very!" He responded sweetly. "Why Wells?"

"I think it's cute." She responded softly with a smile. "Plus we did meaningful and family names for the kids, I get one name that's just cute."

"Ok." He responded just as sweetly as he did to hearing the meaning of the name.

"What about a middle name for Margaret? Elizabeth?" He asked not really thinking about the combination of the two names.

"No, incredibly long. Incredibly British too." She immediately shut that option down. "And I'm not doing my name as a middle name. We get another cute name."

"So what were you thinking?" He asked her figuring she had another name picked out.

"I really liked Everly… I could probably do Everly instead of Margaret honestly." She didn't necessarily want to do a 'trendy' name but she did really like it.

"Very cute, what about Stella?" He had liked the name but hadn't given it much thought before suggesting it.

"I looked at it too, I think it's too close to Stevie." She answered.

"Fair, what about Emma?" He asked, again just suggesting names he had heard recently.

"Not a fan." She responded quickly. He had suggested it with Aly and she wasn't a fan then either.

"Ok, what about Charlotte?"

"I love Charlotte but still, very British." She answered slightly sad that she thought the name was 'too British.'

"We could use it as a middle name?" Henry suggested.

"Margaret Charlotte? Margaret Charlotte." She said it out loud just to get an idea of how it sounded. "Margaret Charlotte McCord… too much."

"What about Everly Charlotte? Everly Charlotte McCord." He used the same technique for the one other name they both really liked it.

"Not bad…" She began. "Aidan Wells McCord." She said wanting to get an idea of how her boy choice actually sounded out loud.

"Is the Wells negotiable?" Henry asked. She could tell he wasn't a fan.

"What were you thinking?" She asked, willing to take suggestions.

"What about Aidan Theodore?" He suggested.

"Eh… not crazy about Theodore. What about Aidan Brooks?" He figured she wouldn't like it but thought it was worth a try.

"Sorry babe, not a chance at Brooks." All he could associate the name Brooks with was Brooks Brothers and felt it was too harsh to name a child something so closely related with a retail store.

"Fair." She responded with a smile. "I'm still stuck on Wells."

"I won't argue with you on Aidan but Wells might have to change. What about Thomas?" Henry was always more of a fan of classic names.

"Ehhh… not my first choice." She told him. "What about Leo?"

"Very powerful, theological name… Aidan Leo… I could live with that." He responded with a smile.

"Aidan Leo McCord… I think that's the one." Elizabeth said after hearing the name out loud.

"Aidan Leo or Everly… I guess we didn't totally decide on a girls name." They liked hearing the names out loud.

"Margaret or Charlotte?" Elizabeth asked only willing to accept one of those names.

Before Henry could give his opinion there was a knock at the door and Jess came in.

"Looks like you're all good to go! Take the rest of the day to rest and give it another couple of days before doing any sort of exercise. Feel free to call us if you need anything!" Jess told her handing her the post-appointment paperwork.

"Thank you!" Elizabeth told her, finally getting the all clear to sit up again.

Jess saw herself out of the room and left the couple back to their own thoughts.

"Come on, let's go! We can order lunch from that little Italian place you love and maybe The Crown will help us pick a middle name!" He told her as she put her coat on and they headed out the door.

The drive home was mainly made up of conversations about how much Elizabeth was looking forward to an early lunch and a day off and some slight sulking again about needing maternity pants already.

Once they got home, they curled up in bed and watched the history of the modern British Royal Family play out for them on Netflix for a few hours before Elizabeth's phone rang. Henry paused the show as Elizabeth answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Elizabeth?" The person on the other line asked.

"Yes." She answered.

"Hi Elizabeth, this is Dr. Moore's office. We've got your results back."

Elizabeth immediately started to hold her breath. She couldn't speak, she was preparing herself for the worst.

"Everything came back good!"

Hearing that everything was fine with their baby allowed Elizabeth to breath again and let a relieved tear fall from her eye.

"Thank you, thank you so much!"

Henry could hear the optimism in her voice.

"Would you like to know the gender?"


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: It was so hard to leave that chapter on a cliff hanger but it was fun writing it! Here is a little bit more cute before we get to drama.**

**Also - shout out to Coronavirus for allowing me to get more writing done! Two days into quarantine and I've already got more writing done than I usually get done in a week. **

**16 ½ Weeks**

"I think we should paint the nursery blue." Aly suggested as the family threw out nursery ideas over dinner. "A light blue would be adorable, especially with a mix of some lighter blonde wood… oooh maybe some light gray wood!"

"What about just a light gray, keep it somewhat neutral anyway?" Stevie threw out. "We could do white or black wood with pops of color."

"Why are you guys putting so much effort into a room that the baby isn't even going to care about?" Jason asked clearly not interested in the conversation happening around him.

"Because it's fun!" Aly said.

Elizabeth and Henry just sat at the table taking in all the suggestions flying out around them. They had decided that Stevie would move into the guest room and the baby would take her room since it was closest to their master bedroom. They all felt it was time for Stevie to upgrade from her twin size bed so it made her transition to the guest room pretty easy and allowed them to get rid of Stevie's old furniture.

"Alright how do you girls feel about an airplane theme?" Henry asked actually getting into their conversation.

"I'm not sure that would be possible…" Elizabeth responded.

"I think we should keep it as neutral as possible, I know you guys hate the whole 'blue for boys, pink for girls' thing anyway, so let's keep it with grays, black, and white and we can soften it with really cute décor and accent pieces." Stevie suggested again to the group.

"Oh my gosh I just saw these crib sheets on Pinterest that we could get the baby's name put on that would be so cute!" Aly said pulling out her phone to show her family.

Aly showed them a picture of a very neutral nursery with custom black and white sheets. There were a few oohs and ahhs from the group before Aly added "how cute would these look with her name on them?!"

"Have you guys officially decided on a name yet?" Stevie asked her parents. "Because I still have some suggestions!"

"Let's hear them." Elizabeth said, not totally wanting to hear new names but always open to what her children might say.

"I think Annabelle is super cute!" Stevie told them.

"Isn't that that horror movie with that doll?" Jason chimed in.

"Ok so Annabelle is ruined, thanks." Stevie eyerolled.

"What about just Bella?!" Aly eagerly suggested.

Henry and Elizabeth looked at each other before Henry mouthed 'no' to Elizabeth. He had never been fond of the name Bella, he shot it down when it was suggested to them for both Stevie and Aly and luckily Elizabeth hadn't really cared one way or another.

"What about Jasona after your favorite child?" Jason snarked.

"That's it! That's the one!" Elizabeth responded sarcastically.

"On a serious note, we have it down to three." Henry told the group, pulling their attention off the ridiculous suggestion.

"What are they?" Aly asked, bringing Stevie's attention to the options as well.

"Well… I think our first option is Everly." Elizabeth told them looking at Henry for support. She was unsure why she was nervous but it felt crazy that they were seriously discussing baby names for their fourth child with their children.

"Ahhh that's cute! What are the other options?" Stevie said.

"Well, your mom really likes Margaret." Henry told them.

"Margaret seems… old." While Elizabeth may not have wanted to hear it, she was thankful for Aly's honest feedback.

"Ok, and option number three is Charlotte." Elizabeth said.

"That's cute too. I think if you do Margaret it has to be a middle name." Stevie added in.

To be honest, they weren't considering Margaret much these days. While Elizabeth loved it a few days ago, it had quickly fallen out of her top two spots.

"Charlotte Everly McCord… that sounds super cute! We could call her Charlie or Lottie!" Aly was speaking to the group but partially thinking out loud.

Charlie. Lottie. They hadn't really considered that and hearing the nicknames out loud for some reason didn't set well with Elizabeth and Henry.

"Maybe not Charlotte after all." Elizabeth whispered to Henry who agreed.

"Why don't you name her after that one song you guys used to play all the time. Wasn't that about a girl?" Everyone was pretty surprised to hear Jason suggesting a name, much less one that wasn't Jasona.

"Layla." Henry answered looking at Elizabeth.

"Everly Layla McCord, Layla Everly McCord. Those are both really cute!" Stevie said helping the couple to hear the names out loud.

"Do you think that's too many L's?" Elizabeth asked the group.

"No." Aly immediately answered.

"You might be on to something Jason." Elizabeth said getting up from the table to put her plate in the sink. "Who has dishes tonight?"

"Me." Aly answered clearly unhappy with her assignment.

"Sorry, Noodle." Elizabeth told her though she was clearly not sorry.

Though Elizabeth had a lot more energy at this point than she had months prior, she was still pretty exhausted by 8:00PM. They tried to stay up and watch some award show with Stevie and Aly but Elizabeth and Henry found themselves struggling to make it past the first 20 minutes of the show and Henry had already woken Elizabeth up twice by the time they handed out the first award.

"Alright guys, I think mom and I are going to bed." Henry told the girls as he and Elizabeth stood up from the couch.

Just as he said that and the glorious thought of partially uninterrupted sleep crept into Elizabeth's head, her cell phone rang with a call from the White House.

"Yes Russell?" She questioned.

"We've got a situation in Zimbabwe… we're going to need you in here right now." He told her.

"What's going on?"

"I would prefer if you'd come in for this." Russell sternly told her, refusing to answer the question.

"What is it?" She asked again.

"The South African forces have invaded Zimbabwe…" He began.

"Ok…"

"They're kidnapping and murdering women and children." Russell told her.

"Ok this seems like more of a UN situation…"

"They've kidnapped and possibly killed US foreign aid workers." Hearing that stopped Elizabeth dead in her tracks. She may not speak with her brother much but she knew enough to know that his family was on a two week safari on the west coast of Africa… with today being in Zimbabwe.

"I'll be right in." She responded nervously. She hung up the phone and immediately started to walk upstairs to change her clothes from her comfortable lounge pants back into the only pair of black maternity pants she had that fit her.

"What's going on?" Henry asked.

"I gotta go…" She told him not ready to face that reality that her brother might have faced losing his family just like he had lost his parents.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

**A/N: Sorry I've given you a bit of suspense over the past few chapters! I will give your hearts a break for the next couple.**

**I would also like to revoke my thank you to coronavirus… working from home has got me working much more than I typically would and spending more time watching TV after work than ever before! Now that my husband is working from home as well I'm hoping to be able to get more writing done since he will be working more than he was before everything went crazy here and life will feel a little more normal… with a little bit more typing from the other room. **

She frantically tried to call her brother's cell phone from the car.

"Come on, pick up." She said aloud to herself after each call.

She probably tried to call him 10 times before she reached the White House. Each one got her the same friendly voicemail but not confirmation that her baby brother was actually ok.

In the middle of what felt like call number 5,000, her motorcade pulled up to the White House and her door was opened for her. She thanked the guard who opened it as she got out but also kept her ear close to her phone.

Another call that went unanswered.

Soon she was at the door to the situation room and greeted by Russel and Conrad along with a host of other individuals who she wasn't able to remember.

She felt like she was operating on auto-pilot. Her mind clearly focused on her brother, his family, and their safety. It was amazing to her how well she was able to handle such a stressful situation in the present and still be focused on an equally as stressful situation in her mind.

As her mind raced in two different directions, it sharply took a turn in a different direction when she realized something she had first realized about two weeks ago but she had let move to another place in her head - she hadn't told Will about the baby.

Henry had called and told his siblings shortly after they found out. He was in the process of mending his relationships with them and knew if they found out from the news that Elizabeth was expecting again they would be crushed.

She texted Will one night not long after she told her staff and the National Enquirer threatened to run her pregnancy but he was about to board a plane destined for Zambia for two weeks of work for the UN before Sophie and Annie met him for their trip. He texted her back that he missed her but was about to board a plane and would call her when he got service but she realized shortly after the news broke that he hadn't returned her call.

It took everything in her to hold back the tears that were forming at her eyes and threatening to stream down her face. She didn't want her little brother to find out by some sleazy tabloid or some generic press release but that was exactly what she allowed to happen.

As she continued to fight back tears, Russell's forceful voice pulled her back to reality.

"Elizabeth!" He spat getting her attention and pulling it back to the situation at hand.

She did an incredible job of pretending like she was paying attention but Conrad saw through it. He knew her better than that. She wasn't ok but she wouldn't tell any of them what was going on, she wouldn't allow anyone to believe that she wasn't ok.

Maybe she was just tired… Conrad thought. Sure it had been two decades since his wife was pregnant but he had some very vivid memories of her fatigue. Maybe it was just her hormones. He hated assuming that one because he knew she was stronger than that.

He was thankful that he didn't have to think about it much longer as Blake interrupted the group with a phone call for Elizabeth.

"Hello?" She nearly whispered into the phone while walking to the hallway.

"Hey Lizzie! What's up is everything ok? I saw you called like a hundred times." It was Will, he was ok.

She let out an audible sigh of relief. "Oh my god I thought you were dead!"

"Why? What's going on?" He cut her off before she could explain anymore.

"There were US aid workers kidnapped and killed in Zimbabwe, aren't you there?"

"No, we left Zimbabwe last night to do a couple days in Madagascar." He heard another audible sigh of relief.

"Oh thank god." She told him attempting to catch her breath. "Hey listen, I'm sorry."

"For what?" He asked, genuinely confused.

"For not telling you." There were those damn tears threatening to fall again. She hated feeling like she was less than the best sister to him.

"Not telling me what?" He had to know by now, right?

"About… about my pregnancy." She told him, still trying to figure out if he was kidding or he really didn't know.

"You're pregnant?! Oh my gosh, congrats! I didn't even know you and Henry were trying, that's so exciting for you two!" This wasn't sarcastic and upset Will, he really didn't know before.

"I thought you knew?!"

"No! How would I know?"

"It broke in the states about two weeks ago. TMZ ran a story with it then my office had to make a formal announcement." She told him, still a bit in shock that he really had no idea what she was talking about.

"Oh wow, that's rough! Is everyone going ok?" There was the doctor in him.

"Yea, I had an amniocentesis a couple of weeks ago, everything is going great. She's measuring right on size, no issues!

"She?!" He questioned with excitement. "Congrats! Do you have a name picked out?"

"Yea we were thinking…" She managed to get out before she was cut off by Blake.

"Ma'am, they're asking for you." He whispered to her.

"Hey I've got to go" she told her brother "I love you, be safe out there."

"Love you too sis, congratulations again!"

She hung up the phone and handed it back to Blake and joining the rest of the team in the situation room.

She somehow managed to make it the next few hours until the situation was able to be passed on to the UN and the United States had done their part. She bid ado to Russell and Conrad before getting into her waiting motorcade with Blake.

"How are you doing ma'am?" Blake asked. He looked at Elizabeth as both a mix of a sister and a mother. He really just wanted her to be ok and was more than happy to help her be ok.

"Exhausted. Let's be late tomorrow, I'd like to get more than" she turned her wrist to look at her watch, it was nearly 3:00AM "three hours of sleep."

"Absolutely ma'am!' Blake told her he'd wait until she texted him that was was up to get anything ready for her tomorrow. She needed her rest and he wasn't going to interrupt it.

He wanted to ask how her brother was, he knew that's who the call was from but wasn't sure why it was so relieving to speak to him. He could probably put two and two together but he tried not to assume much when it came to her and her family.

"Can I ask for your honest opinion, Blake?" He was caught off guard.

"Absolutely." He answered.

"Am I crazy for having another baby?" She asked, very curious but serious.

"I… I don't think so. Do you think you are?"

"Yea. Why did I think this was a good idea?" She asked somewhat rhetorically while admiring and stroking her small but still growing belly.

"I… I don't know, ma'am." He really wasn't sure if she wanted an answer or just wanted to talk.

"Would I be crazy for giving her a 'boy' name?" Her 'boy' complete with finger quotations.

"No… I don't really think so." He wasn't uncomfortable having this conversation, it just really caught him off guard.

"Am I crazy for seriously considering naming my child after an Eric Clapton song?" He again wasn't sure if she really was looking for an answer but he would offer her one.

"I don't think so… How would anyone know that's where you got the name from?" He answered.

"Well I really like the name Layla…" She began but didn't finish her thought.

"That's a beautiful name, ma'am." Blake answered incredibly sincerely.

"But I also think the name Grayson is really cute… but it popped up on a boys name list and I don't know if people would think I'm even crazier for giving her a 'boy' name." The finger quotations made their appearance again.

"I think you should do whatever you think is best! I think they're both beautiful names." Blake told her.

"I told Henry my top name was Everly earlier tonight…"

"That's very pretty as well." Blake slightly cut her off.

"But I don't think it is. I keep thinking about Grayson. Maybe I could spell it like G-R-A-C-E-N to make it more feminine?" She asked.

"I think just G-R-A-Y-S-O-N would be fine." He answered.

"Layla Grayson… Grayson Layla… Everly Grayson… Grayson Everly… Everly Layla… Layla Everly…" She went through all her favorite name combinations aloud not necessarily looking for Blake to answer but not refuting anything he might say.

"I think they are all wonderful names, ma'am!" Blake responded to her thinking out loud as they pulled up to her front door.

"I'll figure it out… I guess I should talk this over with my other half, right?" She joked to Blake before exiting the door. "Have a good night!

The SUV door shut behind her as she walked into her home. She sat her bag down in the doorway and kicked her shoes off next to it. She took her jacket off and left it on the railing of the staircase as she walked upstairs. The exhaustion had finally hit her.

She finally reached her bedroom and had debated whether she had the energy to change into something more comfortable. She ultimately decided she didn't. She was going to snuggle up to her husband and sleep as long as her job let her.

Much to her surprise, her husband wasn't in bed. She checked the closet and bathroom but there was no sign of Henry. She walked out of her bedroom to see a light on coming from Stevie's room. She couldn't believe Stevie was still up.

She opened the door just enough to peek in and see the room void of all furniture and Henry sitting up against one wall, staring at another.

"What are you doing still up?" She asked him, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Well, after you left we moved Stevie into the guest room." He answered.

"Already?!" She responded, taking a seat on the floor next to him.

"Yea, the girls were already excited about working on the nursery and it got Jason away from the Xbox for a few hours. I had to force him to help but he did it with relatively little objection." Henry told her.

"Well he's going to object to just about everything we ask him to do at this point." Elizabeth quipped, a mix of jokingly and seriously.

"Yea and then I was sitting in here, all empty, thinking about how different it's going to be in a few months." Elizabeth brought her head in to meet the side of his as he spoke. "Are we crazy?" He turned his head to look at her.

"Funny you should ask that, I had that same conversation with Blake on the way home." She told him.

"We get one kid off to college, get her back home and thought that was crazy enough, now we're going to start all over." He was doing her same 'thinking out loud but kind of looking for an answer' thing.

"Yea, we're crazy. I won't sugar coat it." She answered him with a smile.

He matched her smile and their lips met for a soft kiss.

"I don't like the name Everly anymore." There, she said it.

"Are we really going to do this all over? I thought you were set on Everly?" He had gotten used to Elizabeth and her struggle to name their children, she could never decide on just one name and she changed her mind up until Stevie was born.

"I mean, I like it but I don't think it's the one." Yep, she wasn't going to make up her mind any time soon.

"So what do you think is the one?" He asked.

"Grayson." She answered.

"Grayson? That's… different. At least, for you." He was shocked to hear her suggest that name, mainly because he had looked at it too but thought she wouldn't be a fan. "I really like it though!" He wanted to tell her he did like it before she thought he didn't.

"I really like Layla too." She added.

"So Layla Grayson or Grayson Layla? Or we could go back to Grayson Everly or Everly Grayson." Hearing him say the name Everly out loud made her like it again.

"Now I like Everly again!" Even she was fed up with her indecisiveness.

"We don't have to decide right now, but let's keep those as our top three. Any other names you want to add?"

"Are we over analyzing a name?" She asked.

"Maybe. You know what we wouldn't over analyze?" He didn't give her time to answer. "Sleep."

"Oh yea let's go to bed."

She waited for him to get up first, hearing his knees and back crack in the process. "Geez old man, are you sure you can handle a newborn?" She joked with him.

"Yea yea let's go." He reached out his hand knowing she would need help up. "Oh wait… I think I see…" He acted like he was looking through her hair. "A gray hair, old lady." He joked right back at her.

"I deserved that one." She said walking out the door and to the refuge of their bed.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews! This is the one chapter I have actually struggled with. I wasn't sure what I wanted to write but I didn't want to have as big of a gap as it would leave to not write one. This may not be my best work - forewarning. **

**18 Weeks**

"Does this shirt make me look crazy pregnant?" She asked, fiddling with her shirt and looking in the mirror.

"Babe, one, you are pregnant so you may look it but two, no, you don't look 'crazy' pregnant." He answered barely looking up from his book.

"Does this jacket help it?" She asked, walking from their closet into their bedroom.

Her movement caused him to actually focus his attention to her. "It looks great, babe."

"Ugh I hate this phase of pregnancy." She said sitting on the bench at the end of their bed and laying back onto the bed. "I feel like I don't look pregnant, just oddly fat."

"You aren't oddly fat, you're clearly pregnant." He kissed the top of her head before getting up and walking into their closet.

She laid there motionless, caught up in her thoughts. She didn't want to go to this summit. Her security detail had mentioned their need for heightened security, especially since the announcement of her pregnancy. She felt bloated, fat, and had this gut feeling something would go wrong on this trip.

"What about this dress?" He suggested holding up a tweed dress from her closet.

She welcomed the distraction from her thoughts. "Too small." She shot down quickly.

As he put the dress back in the closet, she picked up her phone and sent a quick text message.

"What about these pants?" He asked again holding up another pair of pants.

Before she could respond, Aly was in their doorway. "What's up mom?" She asked.

Elizabeth turned her attention from her husband to her daughter. "Hey honey, can you help me pick out some outfits for my summit?"

"Yea absolutely!" Aly answered eagerly walking past her mother and father into their closet.

Henry was a little shocked to see his wife asking for their daughter's advice. He stood near the closet to help Aly, in case she needed any.

"Ok so what about this top, it's loose enough so it won't cling to you too much and it's still loose enough to be comfy. This skirt, it's flared so it won't draw attention to your stomach because it'll flare over it a bit and these heels are high enough to command attention but not high enough to be super uncomfortable." Aly had picked out a light gray chiffon top with a black skirt and black pumps.

"I don't know if that skirt will fit…" Elizabeth told her.

"Do you usually wear it at your waist or hips?" She was amazed how her daughters fashion knowledge some times.

"In between?" Elizabeth answered, not totally sure where she wore it because she hadn't worn it in a while.

"Try it on!" Aly told her handing her the outfit she had picked out.

Elizabeth took the outfit out of her hands and walked to the bathroom shutting the door behind her.

"Has she been trying to pick out clothes since dinner?" Aly asked her father sitting down next to him on the bed.

"Yep." He responded, clearly exhausted and done with attempting to pick out clothes.

"Geez that's been like, two hours?" Aly questioned, amazed that it had taken her usually decisive and stylish mom two hours to pick out a handful of outfits for her trip. "Isn't it like a three day trip?"

"Yep." Henry answered again in the same exhausted tone.

Before Aly could ask another question, the bathroom door opened and Elizabeth emerged in the outfit Aly had picked out for her.

"Mom you look great!" Aly immediately complimented her.

"You think so?" Elizabeth asked nervously.

"Yea babe, you look great!" Henry told her as well.

"Alright, I guess I'll pack this one. I still need one more." Elizabeth said turning around and shutting the bathroom door behind her to change back into the pajamas she had on before.

That was Aly's cue to get back to working her magic within Elizabeth's closet. As she was still looking for options and holding pieces next to each other to decide how they'd look together, Elizabeth emerged from the bathroom.

"Mom, why not the new suit you just bought?" Aly questioned. Elizabeth had recently purchased a new maternity pant suit and wouldn't this be the right time to wear it?

"I think it makes me look too pregnant." Elizabeth answered. Sure she would be more comfortable in a maternity outfit and she wouldn't have to worry about it suddenly not fitting but she was also slightly afraid of not being taking seriously because of her barely there bump.

"Mom… you are pregnant." Aly told her still confused as to why she didn't want to show off her stomach.

"I know…" Elizabeth started.

"No, Aly has a point… why not wear it?" Henry hated that his wife felt the way she did about her body right now but he also didn't totally understand why. The world knew, she wouldn't be able to hide her bump forever and why not be comfortable if she would be wearing uncomfortable shoes and sitting in uncomfortable chairs all day.

"I don't know... " Elizabeth was really torn.

"Wear it! It fits you well, it's really cute, and it doesn't look like it was made for a pregnant person." Aly attempted to convince her.

It worked.

"Ok, I'll pack it." What Aly said was true, it fit her well, it didn't look like it was made for a pregnant person and while she wouldn't describe it as cute, it was nice.

"Ok what else?" Aly asked ready to pick out another outfit.

"I think that's all I need. I already have my gray skirt suit, it's the only one that I know fits and the two outfits you picked out." Elizabeth told her. "Daisy is taking care of my gown for the gala."

"Oooh what did she pick out?" While Aly enjoyed styling for every day, she really loved formal events.

"It's red, pleated, makes me look super pregnant but it's comfortable." She answered.

"What accessories are you wearing with it?" Aly really wanted to style her for a formal event.

That question must have been a cue for Henry to do anything but listen to this conversation. He headed towards the closet and grabbed a couple pair of sweatpants and a couple oversized t-shirts and put them in her suitcase.

"Those gold earrings and the bracelet over on my vanity." Elizabeth motioned towards the jewelry resting on her vanity.

Aly walked over, took a look, and complimented it immediately.

"Alright noodle, bed time." Henry told her before wrapping his arm around her shoulder and kissing her forehead.

"Night dad." She responded to Henry and walked over to Elizabeth. "Night mom." She said giving her a hug.

"Goodnight, Noodle." Elizabeth responded as she walked out the door.

Henry waited until Aly was out of their room and shut the door behind her. "Let's go to bed." He told Elizabeth who had already began to make herself comfortable in bed.

"Yes please." Elizabeth responded.

Henry shut off the lights in the bathroom and their closet before climbing into bed with Elizabeth. As soon as he got in bed, Elizabeth snuggled up to him. They had a ritual before any of them left for overnight trips, they'd curl up together, discuss their trip, make love, and spend the entire night curled up in each others arms. Tonight and this trip would be no different.

She woke up the next morning just a few minutes before her alarm, which was already set earlier than she had hoped. Her plane was taking off in about an hour and she had told her staff this flight could be as casual as possible. They had 12 hours on a plane, no one needed to be apparence ready.

She put on a pair of maternity jeans and a loose fitting sweater. She was hoping to get more sleep on the plane and she wouldn't be able to do that in regular pants. She got ready as quietly as she could and woke Henry up just before she left to say goodbye.

"Good morning baby. I'll see you in a couple of days." She whispered to him, waking him up.

"Good morning baby. Let me help you get your suitcase downstairs." He began sitting up in bed.

"No honey, I got it." She responded.

"Elizabeth, no." He told her already up and out of bed and walking towards her suitcase.

"Fine." She caved.

He started walking down the stairs towards their front door with her not far behind. Once they reached the door, he finally broke the silence.

"Ok, have an amazing trip my love." He said before placing a warm kiss on her lips.

"Last call, you sure you can't go with me?" She asked still sleepy and not ready to be on a plane for 12 hours.

"I wish I could. I love you." He told her giving him one last kiss.

"I love you too. See you in just over 72 hours." With that, she walked out the door.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

**A/N: Has COVID stolen anyone else's creativity?! Now that life is slowly starting to return to a bit of pre-COVID feeling, I feel my creativity coming back so hopefully I will have another update this week! **

**Sorry for some pointless filler in that last one! Here's some cute action for ya!**

**20 Weeks**

"Go ahead and lay back, I'm sure you know but this will be a little cold." The ultrasound technician told Elizabeth.

Today was a big day for them. Today Elizabeth had her 20 week ultrasound. This was usually a lot more exciting because this would be the time they get to find out if they were having a boy or a girl but already knowing the sex of the baby meant this time was exciting for another different but equal reason, they would get to see their daughter's face for the first time.

Elizabeth had always hoped one of her children would look like her as a baby. They would have the strange head full of black hair that she did, the same button nose, and bright blue eyes. Each of their children looked like Henry as a baby. She knew it was an evolutionary thing but she always hoped one of their children would look like her.

As the ultrasound technician moved the handheld piece around her stomach, they finally started to get a look at their little girl.

"There's her feet." The woman said while pushing a couple of buttons. Soon some lines appeared and a quick measurement of her tiny feel appeared.

Her precious, tiny toes.

"Ten toes on each right?" Henry asked half jokingly.

"Yes sir." The woman responded with a smile.

She continued to move the handheld piece around pointing out different but equally as healthy and adorable pieces of their daughter.

"There are her hands, looking perfect as well!" The woman continued to move the piece around. "And there's her face!"

There was a quick intake of air from both Elizabeth and Henry as they studied their daughter's profile.

"She's got your nose." Henry leaned in and whispered to Elizabeth.

Her smile was met with the happiest of tears. "She does!" Elizabeth so quietly whispered.

"Looks like everything is measuring right where it should! Based on measurements, she weighs a little less than a pound, she's about six and a half inches long. I've printed some pictures off for you guys, would you like two copies?"

"Absolutely!" Henry responded, still holding Elizabeth's hand and softly stroking her thumb.

It only took a couple of seconds for the technician to finish printing another copy of the pictures she took and hand them to the couple.

"Congratulations!" She said helping Elizabeth wipe the gel off her stomach before walking out of the room.

Elizabeth pulled her shirt down and sat up on the table still clutching the pictures and studying them intently.

"I can't believe she actually kind of looks like me!" She was just thinking out loud at this point.

"She has your nose, that's for sure!" Henry responded.

Before Elizabeth could respond, Dr. Moore knocked on the door and immediately opened it.

"Hi Dr. and Mrs. McCord!" Dr. Moore greeted the couple. "So it looks like the ultrasound went great! A textbook pregnancy so far! I'll see you guys back in about three weeks. Please let me know if you need anything!"

"Thank you!" Elizabeth told her just before Dr. Moore left the room as quickly as she came in.

"Henry… I can't believe it…" Elizabeth began.

"I know, she's perfect!" He finished her sentence.

"So perfect!" She added still staring at the photos in her hand.

"Come on, let's go! It's not every day that I get a day off with you." Henry said gathering their coats.

The couple put their coats on and headed out the door, Elizabeth could hardly keep her eyes off the pictures of their daughter. Her long yet tiny fingers, her perfect little toes, and of course - Elizabeth's nose.

Once they were back in their motorcade, Henry asked about the one thing that had been on his mind all day. "So babe, what would you like for dinner?"

"You know what we haven't had in so long that sounds so good?" Elizabeth said to him.

"What?" He asked.

"Your chicken tikka masala." Elizabeth was nearly drooling just thinking about it.

"Anything special added to it?" He knew Elizabeth's cravings had been a little odd the past few weeks.

"Lots of tomatoes, so many tomatoes." She had been craving acidic food lately and Henry wasn't sure if he could handle any more heartburn from it.

"I guess I should start taking tums now." He joked with her.

"I went through half a bottle over the last 48 hours. This heartburn is killing me." She told him.

"I feel ya." Henry responded.

"I don't think you do… I have heartburn all… the… time." While she knew Henry probably had heartburn all the time, but pregnancy heartburn, pregnancy heartburn was way different. "It woke me up last night."

"Oh geez."

"But all I want is spicy food." She added. "And tomatoes."

By the time she finished, their motorcade had arrived at their home. Their doors were quickly opened for them and they made their way inside.

"How do you feel about ice cream?" She asked as soon as they got into the house.

"Now?" He asked for clarification, stopping in his tracks as she walked towards the kitchen.

"No… Ooooh a pepper, please tell me we have a green pepper." She wondered out loud from the kitchen loud enough for him to hear.

"Yea I think so… I think there's one in the fridge…" He answered walking towards the kitchen to find her digging in the produce drawer in the fridge and pulling out the pepper.

"You went from ice cream to a pepper?" He was really surprised by her cravings at this point.

"No, I still want ice cream." She said, eating the pepper just a quickly as she could cut it.

"Really?" He started to laugh, he really could not believe her.

"Yep." She nodded as she verbalized her answer. "Vanilla ice cream specifically."

"There's some in the freezer." Henry told her.

"Even better!" She grabbed the carton of ice cream out of the freezer and began dipping her sticks of pepper in it.

"That is so... " Henry began.

"Gross?" Elizabeth tried to finish for him.

"I was going to say interesting but yea that too." He didn't want to totally disgust her with how her cravings sounded to the outside world but he couldn't help it. Peppers and ice cream just sounded terrible.

"It's so good though." She said with a mouth full of food.

"On to another, less gross topic, what would you like to do until the kids get home? We've got about an hour." He was relieved to see her put the ice cream away.

"Part of me wants to watch reruns of the Great British Baking Show but then I'm afraid I'll want nothing but sweets all night." She answered.

"We could watch something else." He reminded her.

"What else do we watch?" She asked. Maybe it was pregnancy brain but she really couldn't remember any other shows they watched regularly.

"Good point." He responded with an eyebrow raise. "Maybe we should start something?"

"We won't finish it." She reminded him. They didn't have the best track record when it came to finishing TV shows.

"We could pick out paint colors for the nursery." He suggested. While it seemed a little early to start getting a nursery ready, he knew as the pregnancy went on and her energy levels continued to drop that it would be much harder to get it done later.

"That's true…" She began. "Oh we could pick out paint colors and go to that adorable little baby boutique on Wisconsin!"

"We could… Is that what you really want to do?" He knew she did want to go but she had also been trying to avoid the press as much as possible lately and if her stylist hadn't brought maternity clothes into her office she was buying them online.

She thought about it for a moment. "Yea, I still want to feel somewhat normal during this pregnancy. Maybe we can get in and out without anyone recognizing us!"

"Let's go!" He finished.

She was expecting him to walk towards the front door and was surprised when he walked towards the garage.

"You're driving?" She asked. She wasn't really able to go anywhere without agents anymore.

"Yea, Dan will join us!" He told her motioning towards the garage where an agent waited at all times anyways.

"Ok!" She responded with a smile.

Once they were in the car, Henry started the discussion that they needed to have. "So, what color are you thinking for the nursery?"

"Well… not yellow. I read that it makes babies cry. I did like Aly's idea of light blue, I also like doing something gray and neutral. Do you have any ideas?"

"I like the blue idea and the gray. Want to play a little game with our favorite people?" He asked with a smirk.

"What do you mean?" She was confused but could see by his smirk that he had something up his sleeve.

"Well... someone is bound to get a picture of us today. Let's pick out a bunch of blue paints and see how long it takes for the press to run that we're having a boy." She answered with an equally as sly smirk as before.

She smirked before responding, "I like the sound of that. Are we really going to consider blue?"

"We can, it's whatever you want!" He reminded her. This was all about her.

"Let's get a bunch of different blues and some grays… we'll get a small thing of the blue just to throw them off and go with the gray." She smiled. It felt nice to be normal and 'fun' again.

They arrived at the hardware store and went immediately to the paint. Sure enough, there were multiple people taking pictures as she walked in - not paparazzi, just normal people surprised to see the two of them so casually.

The couple oohed and aahed over the blue and gray paint colors. They pulled dark blues and light blues, even looked at a few reds before deciding on a color they never expected.

"Ooooh look at this one!" Elizabeth said pulling a deep green. "It would go so well with the gray and we could soften it so nicely! It's so pretty!"

Henry was somewhat surprised to see her pick out a color called Calypso Green but he did agree that it looked good with a light gray and would perfect with the white furniture he knew she would eventually pick out.

"It is really nice!" He agreed. "So are we set on Silent Night gray?"

"I think the name is appropriate!" She answered with a smile. "We'll do an accent wall in the Calypso Green."

"Sounds perfect!"

The two walked to the young man working at the paint counter and purchased the necessary amount of paint in each color. They could hear the snapping of another customer's phone camera but it had become a sound they were used to. They had gotten pretty good at ignoring it and took their paint and went on their way.

While Henry's plan may have worked at the hardware store, it wouldn't work at the boutique. Elizabeth wouldn't be able to resist picking out dresses and bows for their little girl. As much as she would say she hated little girls in a matching bow with every outfit, Stevie and Aly always had bows in their hair.

As they pulled up in front of the boutique, the sales associate was shocked to see the couple walk into the store. Sure they were a well known Washington baby boutique but it was still surprising to see heads of state in the store.

"Hello!" She excited but nervously greeted the couple from behind the cash register as they walked in.

"Hi!" Elizabeth responded.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" The sales associate asked walking towards them.

"Just looking!" Henry answered.

"Are you looking for a boy or a girl?" The associate followed up. While it may have seemed like she was prying for information, she was really just doing her job.

"Something gender neutral for now!" Elizabeth told her nicely.

"Well my name is Macy if you need anything!" Macy, the sales associate, told the couple.

"Thanks, Macy!" Henry said already noticing Elizabeth looking at baby blankets.

"Oh this is so cute!" She told Henry as she held up a small blanket with gray pom poms wrapping around the edges. "It would be perfect in the baby's room!"

Henry nodded as Elizabeth continued to quickly shop. She handed him the blanket and began looking at the baby boy clothes. From across the store Elizabeth had spotted a gray striped sweater which would be perfectly gender neutral.

"Oh this is perfect!" She held up the sweater. "What do you think?"

"I think it's perfect as well!" Henry knew better than to object to anything that she had good reason to believe was perfect for their daughter.

She handed the sweater to him and continued to look through the baby boy clothes. She was partially trying to throw people off, partially picking out gender neutral pieces. Her time in the baby boy clothes didn't last long as she spotted a dress in the baby girl section and immediately rushed over.

"Oh this is so precious!" She held up the black and white polka dress adoring the details and imagining their daughter in it.

"Stevie and Aly had a dress just like that!" Henry reminded her.

"I know and we gave it away after Jason was born. Oh I wish I had kept it! We've got to get this one too!" She had loved that dress that she had for the girls, it had a sailor feel to it, similar to this one.

"Anything you want babe!" He told her.

They continued to shop, picking up some bibs and a matching bow for the dress Elizabeth loved. They met Macy at the register, paid for their items, and headed outside. Their drive home was mostly Elizabeth adoring the polka dot dress they had purchased and wondering when she would fit in it. While she knew this would be her last baby, she also knew she wouldn't be able to part with this dress.

Their kids beat them home and had started their homework in the kitchen by the time they got home.

"Hey guys!" Henry opened the door by the kitchen excited to see his kids.

"Hey dad!" Aly responded. Jason didn't hear him because his headphones were on and his focus was in his homework.

"Hey Noodle!" Elizabeth said, walking in the door just a step behind Henry.

"Hey mom!" Aly acknowledged.

"What are you guys up to?" Elizabeth asked.

"Jason has homework and I'm working on a column." Aly answered. "What were you guys doing?"

"We were picking out paint colors for the nursery and did a little shopping!" Henry told them, holding up the paint cans and shopping bags before sitting them down in the living room.

"What color did you decide?! I want to see!" Aly followed her dad into the living room to take a peek at the paint sample on top of each can. "Oh those are so pretty!"

"What do you think about doing some light pink accents with it too?" Elizabeth asked Aly.

"Light pink accents with what?" Stevie asked coming into the kitchen from the living room.

"The baby's room!" Aly answered before Elizabeth could speak. "They bought the paint today!"

"Oooh what did you guys decide on?" Stevie inquired.

"They're in the living room." Henry answered.

Stevie walked to the living room to take a look at the paint color and had a similar reaction to Aly's. Jason still had his headphones on but had been observing the action and knew what they were talking about but didn't really care.

"Light pink would look so cute with that!" Stevie agreed.

"Alright, everyone ok with chicken tikka masala for dinner?" Henry asked walking to the fridge to begin gathering the ingredients.

"Yea sure." Jason responded before anyone else. If the picky eater in the house was ok with it, it would be fine.

Henry began cooking and Stevie and Aly took the paint and bags to the baby's room. Elizabeth followed just behind the girls and they began planning furniture for the baby's room.

Soon Henry yelled up the stairs that dinner was done and the five of them ate dinner as a family. This wasn't something they usually got to do and Elizabeth cherished the moments when she could. Soon their family of five would be a family of six and she was nervously excited for the future.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

**A/N: Wow! Thanks for waiting on this one, I really hope you guys like it! This wasn't a chapter I had originally planned on writing but I feel it may be relevant later so I thought it was worth it! **

**22 Weeks**

Henry woke up to an unfamiliar yet oddly familiar sound. Elizabeth had been in the bathroom most of the morning emptying the barely there contents of her stomach. When he finally woke up to the sound at roughly 6:00AM, she had already been throwing up for about an hour. It seemed so familiar because it wasn't long ago that this was every morning for her but was still so unfamiliar because it had been so long since it had woken him up.

"Hey babe, you ok?" He said groggily walking into the bathroom.

She shot him a look that said 'really.' It was pretty obvious she wasn't ok.

"Sorry babe, that was a dumb question, do you need anything?" He quickly snapped back to his old caring self.

"I want water." She nearly cried, her throat burning from what she had been doing for the last hour.

"Ok baby." He hurried to her side of the bed where a bottle of water was kept nearly every night.

He grabbed the bottle of water and quickly brought it back to her. "Here you go, honey."

She took a quick sip before leaning back trying to catch her breath. "I thought the morning sickness was done." She told him.

"Me too." He told her rubbing soft circles on her back.

As soon as he finished acknowledging her sickness, she was throwing up again.

"I'm going to go get you some crackers." He informed her rushing out the door down to the kitchen.

Her morning sickness was usually done by now. She maybe was a little nauseous but full on morning sickness didn't usually happen this late for her. She was trying to think of anything she may have ate that had upset her stomach but nothing came to mind. She hadn't eaten any crazy left overs, no suspicious cooking in general… but here she was.

Soon Henry was back with crackers and offering them to her in between her vomiting spells.

They weren't helping. She couldn't keep down the crackers or the water. She wouldn't let him know that though. She was going to put on a brave face because the world wouldn't stop just because she didn't feel good. She was already asking the world to slow down a couple times a month and would be asking the world to slow down a lot once she was on maternity leave so asking it to stop for a day seemed like a lot.

She pulled herself together long enough to get a shower without getting sick again. That alone seemed like a miracle. She was sick a few more times before she was dressed and now she was officially running late. She hurried out the door and continued to tell herself this was just morning sickness coming back and not something that she needed to worry about.

Once in her motorcade, she was thankful her detail never thought to remove the barf bags they stashed behind their seats, she needed them now more than she did when she was actually dealing with regular morning sickness. Blake didn't join her today which she saw as a blessing in disguise because she knew once he saw her like this he would call Henry and insist that she take the day off. She didn't have the time to take a day off.

She only needed to use the bag a few times on the way to her office and she figured that was better than how she felt this morning. She tried to drink more of the water she had and eat a few more crackers that she had put in her purse but again, it wasn't helping.

The elevator to the seventh floor was full of people. She didn't know how she would make it up. She was reminded of a time in college when after a fateful New Years Eve when she got very drunk on bourbon and tried but ultimately failed to make it back to her room without getting sick because of the smell of her roommate making breakfast. Oh what she would give to just be hungover.

"Good morning ma'am…" He began as she stepped off the elevator. "You don't look so good… are you ok?" He asked as she tried to focus on breathing to alleviate her nausea while walking to her office.

"Oh yea you know, just pregnant." She answered walking just a little bit faster towards her office as she could feel the bile rising in her throat.

Blake followed quickly behind her but not without his concerns. She hadn't been this sick in weeks and he wasn't sure how pregnancy actually worked but didn't think morning sickness would come and go like this.

She walked into her office and straight into her bathroom. She wasn't going to make it to her desk without getting sick. Blake waited nervously outside the door, attempting to ask if she was ok through the door at various points but got no response.

When she finally emerged, she broke the silence. "Ah the joys of pregnancy, huh?" She tried to joke.

"Ma'am, are you sure you're ok?" Blake insisted on asking again.

"Absolutely, I'm fine!" She answered clearly on the verge of throwing up again by the time she reached her desk. "What's on the agenda for today?"

Blake didn't really want to tell her the truth. He wanted to tell her the only thing on her agenda was rest and fluids but he decided if she felt she was well enough to make it through the day then he was in no place to stop her.

"You have a 10:00AM with the Peruvian Prime Minister followed by lunch with him and a small group of students from Peru studying government at Georgetown. You have a 1:30PM with Daisy to discuss press plans for the rest of your pregnancy and your maternity leave and a 2:30PM with Jay and Nadine to discuss the president's proposed changes to NATO." He read off a list.

As soon as he finished and she went to respond, she was sick again.

When she finally lifted her head out of the trashcan next to her desk, she asked him "What time is it now?"

"9:07." He answered.

"Can you get me the menu for my lunch? I think I'm going to make some changes." She told him.

"Yes ma'am, is there anything else I can get for you?" He asked.

"No, I'm ok, thank you, Blake." She answered.

He took that as his cue to leave her alone for a moment, hoping maybe a moment alone, feeling this terrible at work would make her realize that she needed to rest. Most of the events of her day could be rescheduled or handled from home - if she would agree to that.

He turned around and exited her office hearing her breathing heavily trying to focus on anything but how upset her stomach was. She was hoping for relief and peace, at least long enough for her to pull herself together again.

Her peace was short lived as Blake interrupted her just a few moments after he left. "I'm sorry ma'am, Dr. McCord just called - Jason is being picked up from school with a stomach bug."

So this wasn't just regular morning sickness and there was no hiding it now.

She took a deep breath before responding, hoping to avoid getting sick again. "Ok, send the Peruvian Prime Minister my apologies and see who can step in for me for lunch. Tell Daisy I will call her from home and have Nadine and Jay to send me a summary of what they think. I'm going home. Call my motorcade and tell them I will meet them downstairs." She instructed him.

"Yes ma'am, would you like me to call Dr. McCord and let him know as well?" Blake asked as she walked to her coat closet and pulled out her coat that she forgot she had left there yesterday.

"Yes please." She answered.

"Please feel better soon ma'am." He told her.

"Thanks, Blake." She was again trying to focus on breathing and not throwing up as she walked out her office door and to the elevator without acknowledging anyone or anything that came her way.

"She good?" Matt asked Blake as he got back to his desk after observing the Secretary walking to the elevator clearly leaving for home so early.

"Sick. Very sick." Blake told him with his desk phone up to one ear.

Blake called her motorcade and watched the elevator doors shut hoping she wouldn't be sick on the elevator for her sake.

She did somehow manage to survive the trip down the elevator to her waiting motorcade but was surprised to discover it still wasn't there. She searched around frantically for a place to empty the non existent contents of her stomach but didn't discover any such places. She knelt down, bending her knees and putting her head between them. It did help alleviate the immediate urge for the moment and she was happy to hear her motorcade pulling up.

An agent got to her as soon as he could, helping her up and into the car. "Are you ok ma'am?" He asked as he took her arm to help her up.

"Yea I'll be fine." She told him. "Thank you."

Once in the back seat she allowed herself to get sick again. She hadn't been able to keep the crackers or water down and she knew this couldn't be good if Jason was sick as well.

This trip home seemed like the longest trip yet, mainly because it felt like it was 10,000 degrees in the back of the motorcade and all she could think about was getting sick again. She let out a sigh of relief when they finally made it to her home.

The same agent who helped her into the car came to her side and opened her door. He helped her into the house and sat her bag on the table in the entry way.

"Thank you so much, John." She told him.

"No problem, ma'am." He responded.

"I've got it from here, thanks, John!" Henry told the agent.

"No problem, sir." John added before reporting back to his post outside.

Henry. Her knight in shining armor who hopefully came prepared with gatorades and some food she may be able to keep down. She fell immediately into his arms.

"I feel so bad." She whined into his chest feel like she didn't have the strength to hold herself up completely.

"I know." He wrapped his arms around her and softly rubbed her back. "Jason is upstairs in bed, do you want to lay on the couch?" He knew she probably wouldn't make it up the stairs to their bedroom.

"Yea." She whined softly.

"Ok." He swung her legs up into his arms and carried her onto the couch. He walked the handful of steps into the living room and gently sat her down on the couch. "Have you been able to keep anything down?" He asked walking into the kitchen to get her a gatorade.

"No." She said helplessly.

"Have you called Dr. Moore?" He asked, he knew having a stomach bug while pregnant wasn't the end of the world but she needed to be drinking water for two and it made it very hard to do that when she couldn't keep anything down.

"No." She answered.

"Here's your gatorade." He told her sitting a gatorade down on the table in front of her. "I'm going to call her, just to be sure."

"Ok." She responded quietly trying to get comfortable on the couch. She kicked off her shoes and wrapped the blanket that was laying on the couch over her legs.

Henry walked into the kitchen and put in a quick call to her doctor. While Dr. Moore wasn't worried just yet, he did advise him that if she still wasn't able to keep anything down in the next few hours that she probably would need IV fluids - something he knew she wouldn't be happy to hear.

"Ok so Dr. Moore said if you can't keep anything down in the next few hours, you'll probably need IV fluids." Henry barely had enough time to finish before he could tell Elizabeth was about to be sick again. He grabbed the garbage can from the kitchen as quickly as he could and placed it in front of her just in time.

Once she was finished he went to ask her if there was anything she needed but was interrupted by Jason coming down the stairs.

"Dad I still don't feel good." He whined. Jason acted just like her when she was sick. The girls could power through anything but the second Jason became sick he turned into a baby just like his mom.

"Hey baby!" She said to him happily sitting up slowly and trying to adjust herself to see him. "Want to sit on the couch with me?"

He nodded and took a place next to his mother. He laid his head on her shoulder and for a moment all felt right. That moment was short lived as she was sick again. Jason shifted to the other side of the couch, still not wanting to leave his mom with how sick they both felt.

"Here, try to drink something babe." Henry instructed handing her the open gatorade.

She took as big of a sip as she felt she could handle and laid down on the opposite end of the couch from Jason.

"You guys try to get some sleep." Henry told Elizabeth gently stroking the hair on the side of her forehead. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and then Jason the same.

While Elizabeth was able to sleep for a little bit, it was short lived by another vomiting episode.

"Henry." She said still quietly but loud enough for him to hear from the kitchen where he was trying to work.

"What's wrong babe?" He asked, careful to speak quietly trying not to wake Jason up.

"I think we need to go to the hospital." She told him. "I just want to feel better."

"Ok honey, let me call Stevie and see where she's at and then we'll head there." Henry answered.

He placed a quick call to Stevie who was able to come home and look after Jason. He notified her staff of the plan and asked them to enter through the designated hospital entrance as they had previously discussed to avoid any press. He placed a quick call to her staff to give them the heads up incase there were any press who got tipped off and finally placed a call to Dr. Moore letting her know they would be coming in and that Elizabeth hadn't gotten any better.

"Ok honey, let's go." He said when he had finished making all of his necessary phone calls.

"Before we go, can I change my clothes?" She asked, still whining.

"Of course. Do you want me to go get you something to change in to?" He asked.

"No, I'll go." She wanted to try and make it as far up the stairs as she could.

"Ok, come on." While her plan was to walk, he could see how sick she was and insisted on carrying her up the stairs to their bedroom.

He placed her down on the bedroom and grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt for her to put on. He helped her change out of her work clothes and into the comfy clothes she should have probably put on earlier. He grabbed a pair of slippers out of her closet and carried her back down the stairs.

She finally spoke up once they reached the bottom of the stairs. "I got it from here, thanks babe." She told him with a smile.

"You sure?" He asked, it was possible that she looked even worse than before.

Before she could answer she quickly reached out to grab the post at the end of the stairs to steady herself. She still nodded her head in hopes that this dizzy spell and headache would go away quickly.

"What's wrong babe?" He asked concerned.

"The room is spinning and my head hurts." She whined.

He quickly picked her up and carried her to the waiting motorcade. He tried to remain as calm and realistic as possible, she had been sick for hours without being able to eat or drink anything, it was very possible that this was severe dehydration that some IV fluids would help with but he didn't want to take any chances.

He placed her in the motorcade and quickly got in the other side. He put her seatbelt down and she moaned from the migraine that had just hit her. Her right hand was now covering her eyes, blocking the sun that was making her headache even worse. She reached out to find his hand with her left hand and quickly found it.

The ride there was mostly silent. She moaned occasionally trying to deal with the migraine and he spent more time worried about her than he did thinking about anything he should say.

They quickly arrived at John Hopkins and a nurse and doctor were already waiting outside with a gurney for Elizabeth. Henry helped her on it and she laid down on her side, still covering her eyes. As they sped through the hospital, eventually a nurse grabbed his arm and asked him to stay in the waiting room as they pushed Elizabeth through two doors labeled EMERGENCY.

He nodded and sat down. He knew she would be fine, she had to be, right? He took out his phone to send a quick message to Stevie to make sure she was still ok.

While Henry was busy worrying about Elizabeth, she was being poked and prodded in an attempt to start her fluids soon.

"Which hand works best for an IV ma'am?" A nurse asked her. Elizabeth held out her left arm and the nurse quickly began putting a line in her arm.

Another doctor was busy checking her heart rate and quickly turned his attention to her stomach. He put his stethoscope to her stomach and quickly heard a normal heartbeat from their daughter. He moved the stethoscope back behind his shoulders.

He took a small light out of his pocket and shined them in Elizabeth eyes, tracking the movement to look for any other possible signs of something major.

"I think you're just suffering from a little dehydration. We're going to move you to a room and get you some more fluids. If all goes well, you should be back home tonight." He told her very reassuringly.

"Thank you." She managed to respond.

Before she knew it, a nurse was walking Henry into the little bay where she was laying.

"Hey honey, are you feeling?" He asked.

She was surprised that she had only gotten sick once since they started her fluids and happy that her energy was finally returning.

"Better." She answered with a small smile.

Henry pulled up the chair next to her bed so he could hold her hand as she waited for her room.

"Does being here make you want to make a birth plan right away too?" She asked with a little bit of a giggle.

Henry smiled in return. "The last time you went to the ER while pregnant we did have a baby so it doesn't feel too far off."

"We need to decide on a name still too." She reminded him.

"You need to decide on a name." He shot back playfully.

"I've decided on two, you gotta help me out here." She playfully argued.

"And what are those two?" He asked.

"You know, Layla Everly or Everly Layla…" His eyebrows raised knowing she hadn't decided at all. "Or Layla Grayson."

"So you've decided on three?" He asked her jokingly.

"No I've decided on one! The more I hear the other two out loud the less I like them. I want something more classic." She told him having made up her mind in that moment.

"And what is that? What is her name?"


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Wow! Two updates in one week?! I guess I'm officially back! Ok, more seriousness coming your way. This one starts back on track but I think you'll figure out where. **

**25 ½ Weeks**

She had always held bravery in the highest regard. Bravery was one of the reasons she admired Norah so much. In addition to being an incredibly strong young woman, she was an incredibly brave one too.

She watched, captivated at first by the young woman and her bravery, her desire to spread her message and her story for the better.

Jay didn't have to interrupt her moment of amazement, but he did. The uranium issue still had to be very present as Norah was now a target and now her family was on the line and targets by proxy.

When she gave the word to shut down the conference, she thought she had beat it - that she had won. She knew there was a chance that something could still happen but she thought they could have beat it.

Her heart stopped as she saw the smoke and flames. The same feeling that she had first experienced with a panic attack but thankfully this time different instincts kicked in. Instead of feeling like she needed the world to stop, she felt as if she could run it.

She quickly gathered her things out of her office as Jay worked to ensure her family had been located and were safe. The good news finally came as she walked to the elevators with her staff.

"All three kids are with security! They're fine! They're fine! They're being taken to Saint Anne's hospital nearby." Jay shouted running into the hallway.

"Wait? Why are they going to the hospital if they're fine?" She asked obviously confused.

"They have to be checked for radiation exposure." He answered.

"It was a dirty bomb?" She couldn't believe what she was being told.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by the member of her detail insisting that they needed to get to the bunker as soon as possible.

"What about Henry?" She asked. While she was incredibly relieved that their children had made it out ok to this point, the movement of their unborn child reminded her how much she still needed Henry. She didn't just need him for their children and the child to be but for her own life.

"Still locating him." Jay told her.

"Well if the kids made it to security, I'm sure Henry did also." Nadine chimed in trying to be the voice of reason she knew Elizabeth so desperately needed.

Henry had made it to security but Henry also needed to be the protector - not protected. He had ran back into the building after the kids made it to security safely to provide first aid to any victims still in the building.

His heart began to race even faster when he saw the first few responders enter the building in Hazmat suits, this was no ordinary but tragic attack - this was so much more.

Elizabeth's heart raced even more with each second as she tried to call her family as quick as possible before she was taken to the bunker. Blake was placing calls to security and anyone who may be able to provide them with an update on the McCords.

As the agents sped through DC and the sharp turns shifted Elizabeth and Blake out of their seats, she was somewhat surprised to begin feeling pain. It wasn't totally odd of her to feel stretching and straining in her stomach during pregnancy but this wasn't usual muscle pain.

After attempting to call Aly and only getting her voicemail, she knew she wasn't going into the bunker without knowing that her family was safe, complete and safe.

"Turn around, we're going to go to Saint Anne's in Virginia." She commanded her detail in the front seat.

"Negative ma'am, we're under strict protocol to get you to the White House." He answered.

"No no I don't care, just turn around now!" She commanded again.

"I'm sorry ma'am, not your call. There could be a secondary attack." He was under strict orders after all and while he understood where her heart was, he had to act with his head.

"Do you really think that might happen?" Blake questioned the guard in the front seat.

"It did on 9/11." The man somberly reminded him.

She continued on with her attempted phone calls as Blake and her detail had their exchange. As the car sped down the street, she was somewhat surprised that the pain hadn't stopped, just as they made a sharp turn that threw part of her body into the door.

One thing that stuck with her after her parents accident and through her CIA training was the fact that injuries tend to be worse when the body is tense which would explain why her hitting the door caused the pain in her shoulder the way it did.

That's how she would play it off at least. She figured with the stress and commotion going on around her no one would be able to tell when her face was actually changing because of physical pain and not the ever present emotional stress that she was currently dealing with.

While her face was changing, Blake had informed her that Nadine was able to get through and she accepted the phone as quickly as she could.

"Nadine what is it? What do you have?" Elizabeth asked.

"We're getting reports of dozens of severe injuries but no details yet. We're putting all of our foreign outposts on high alert." Nadine answered.

"No no no forget high alert, I want every embassy and consulate on lock down." She told Nadine.

She was thankful to be interrupted by Blake letting her know that he was finally able to get in touch with Jason. She tried to calm her obviously stressed voice when talking to him. Her levels of concern obviously rose and fell as she continued to speak with Jason.

As Jason described what he was seeing, she reminded him at one point to take a deep breath. The reminder wasn't all for him though, it was partially for her as well. She knew something was off, while she knew these weren't contractions, there was something that was painful, something that wasn't usual but she wasn't sure was a total cause for concern in this moment.

She did her best to comfort him as he tried to breathe through the pain. She informed him that she needed to go to the White House for a bit but would be to them as soon as she could. Knowing that she had finally gotten in touch with the kids, she figured Henry would be there and just needed to hear his voice and know that he was ok.

As she asked for Henry, her heart sank when Jason informed her that Henry wasn't with them - that he had went into full protector mode and went back in after the blast. She felt like her heart would stop, was he ok? Would he be ok?

She continued to frantically try to call him as he fought with the EMTs in the ambulance to call her. They were always in sync in some way, even when you would least expect it. She continued to call him until she reached the situation room. While there was slight relief when Russell told her the EMTs had found him at the blast site, the relief was short lived as she now shifted her focus to worry about his current condition. Yes he was alive but would he survive?

Elizabeth didn't realize during her cycle of stress and relief since arriving to the White House that the pain hadn't subsided since she was on the phone with Jason. The pain was still hitting her hard, thankfully there was so much commotion that her shifting and telling face went unnoticed.

As soon as she was able to step away, she placed a quick call to her staff to discuss a possible theory. She was still trying to focus on anything else but the pain on her right side when it seemed to get worse by the second. She leaned against the wall trying to catch her breath as the pain grew.

While she wasn't exactly happy that she was interrupted with news that Blake was trying to reach her, she figured it could at least be an update.

Her heart sank again when the doctor told her that if the medication Henry was being administered wasn't effective that there would be nothing they could do. As the doctor handed the phone back to Blake, she saw Conrad walking towards her out of the corner of her eye.

While her heart continued to worry about her husband, her brain had also started to worry about herself. Something wasn't right. She had had Braxton Hicks contractions before but this wasn't that. `Her heart could worry about Henry but her brain needed to make the smart move for the health of their unborn child.

She turned away from Conrad as she asked Blake a favor.

"Blake, I need you to call Dr. Moore for me." She told him.

"Yes ma'am, are you ok?" He asked very concerned.

"Yea just have a couple of questions, have her call me as soon as possible." With that she hung up the phone and turned her attention back to Conrad.

Conrad told her she could go be with Henry, that the deputy secretary could handle her duties for the time being and she could go be with her family. She was thankful he didn't know who Dr. Moore was and didn't ask.

"Thanks, Conrad. I might have to take you up on that later." She told him as they headed back to the situation room.

As they continued to try to uncover who was responsible for the attack, they were interrupted again.

"Madam Secretary, there's a call for you." Discretion was something Dr. Moore's team had done very well and she was thankful for it now more than ever.

She quickly walked out the door and took the phone from the woman, walking a couple steps away into a more secluded alcove.

"Hello?" She asked the person on the other end of the call.

"Madam Secretary, Dr. Moore, how are you?" She let out a slight sigh of relief upon hearing her doctor's voice.

"Anita, something's wrong." Elizabeth told her doctor somewhat frantically.

"What's going on?" Dr. Moore asked with growing concern.

"I think something's wrong." She didn't realize how quickly she was breathing. "I've been having pain on my right side since last night but it's steadily gotten worse since last night." Elizabeth could hardly catch her breath.

"Any bleeding? Have you been feeling the baby move?" Dr. Moore was trying to gather as much information as possible.

"No bleeding, she's been moving or kicking most of the day." Elizabeth answered trying to calm herself.

"Ok, I want to get you in here as soon as possible. I know what just happened will complicate that, how can I make this work for you?" Dr. Moore wasn't sure rushing her right into an emergency room right now as going to be the best idea so she left it up to the Secretary to decide how they could get there.

Elizabeth's first thought went to Saint Anne's. While there was a lot of press there, it would at least allow her to be close to her family. Her arrival could be framed as a way to check on and meet them which would look better than going to another hospital.

"Saint Anne's in Virginia?" She asked Dr. Moore.

"I can meet you there." Dr. Moore reassured her.

"Ok, is it possible for my team to make this look like a visit to my family and the victims?" Elizabeth had to think of how it would look if she went to the hospital and then went straight to the maternity ward.

"Yes absolutely, I'll let my team know this won't be routine." Dr. Moore told her. It would take some moving around and some skill but they could make it work.

"Thank you." Elizabeth responded before hanging up.

She made a quick call to Blake letting him know what was happening and to call the deputy secretary and her motorcade before making her way back into the situation room.

Her presence was immediately noted and she informed the team that the deputy secretary would be stepping in as she had to go. Conrad sent her with well wishes for everyone and she escaped to the waiting motorcade.

Once in the motorcade she allowed herself to catch her breath. She knew she needed to breath and relax. Her attempt at relaxation was cut short by a phone call from Henry. She was so thankful to hear his voice, to hear that he was feeling ok and being taken care of.

"Hey, I'm on my way to you!" She added just before he hung up.

"You sure?" He questioned her coming to see him, he was stuck in isolation and she needed a hazmat suit to see him. "Is it ok?" The question wasn't if she was sure she wanted to see him but rather if she was sure it was ok to see him.

"Well, not exactly… I'm on my way to Saint Anne's to see Dr. Moore but don't worry!" She really didn't want him to worry, she was happy to do all the worrying for the two of them if it meant he would be ok.

"What's wrong?" He asked obviously concerned.

"Just some contractions from the stress just want to make sure everything is ok!" She was lying but she knew it would at least seem a little less concerning that how she really felt.

"Are you ok?" His concern growing with her every word.

"Yea yea just a precaution to make sure everything is ok!" She was trying but failing at proving everything was ok.

"Babe I wish I could be there with you, I'm so sorry." He said. "Hey I gotta go, more medical experiments are coming my way but please keep me updated, I love you so much." He told her.

"I love you too honey." She told him with tears in her eyes.

The silence of the call ending was deafening. Hearing his voice was so relieving but it was a stark reminder of the seriousness of everything going on around them.

The only good thing about the pain in her side that was constant was that it pulled her focus to the pain and not her current situation. She was thankful for the distraction from her pain and hearing Henry's voice but soon her thoughts were brought back to her ride side and the nausea that had been present all day.

Her motorcade was able to pull up to a side door with no press or patients outside. She quickly got out of the car and walked in to greet Dr. Moore.

"Elizabeth, hi!" The doctor said. "Right this way."

Dr. Moore showed her to a small hospital room already ready with various monitors and her usual nurse Jess ready to help figure out what was going on.

As Dr. Moore asked Elizabeth a variety of questions and she ran a variety of tests, Elizabeth's mind went to the worst possible situation. If she was about to give birth, would everything be ok? She still didn't know how Henry was doing since they were running more tests on him, she didn't know if their daughter would make it. Her thoughts never once went to her.

Elizabeth noticed Dr. Moore's face begin to change to one of concern and her heart began to beat faster. "Elizabeth, we need to get you admitted. We need to get you in surgery as soon as possible.

"What?" Elizabeth asked obviously very confused, concerned, and with tears in her eyes.

"You have appendicitis." Dr. Moore could still see the confusion and fear in Elizabeth's eyes. "We need to get you in surgery immediately or you'll slip into septic shock once your appendix burst."

The ideas began racing around in Elizabeth's head but they all came back to one thing - how desperately she needed her husband's support.


End file.
